Media centre

Wednesday 11 Mar 2020

Electric vehicle boost for Kintore station

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

The new Kintore station will lead the way in encouraging greener commutes as additional Scottish Government funding has been secured to increase the number of electric charging bays at the station.

A total of 24 of the 168 spaces at the new transport hub will be for electric vehicles – a massive increase on the two spaces originally planned for the facility.

The increase, which means 15 percent of spaces are for greener vehicles, has been funded by Transport Scotland as part of the Government’s strategy to decarbonise rail travel by 2035.

The new station will also feature 12 accessible spaces, including two for electric vehicles.

The £14.5m station is on course to open in May this year– reconnecting Kintore to the rail network for the first time in five decades.

Funded by Transport Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council and Nestrans, the new station will have step-free access between platforms through a new footbridge and lifts.

The station will also have bike storage spaces and connections into the local bus network to encourage passengers to use public transport.

All Aberdeen-Inverness trains will call at the station, which is being built by Network Rail and main contractor BAM Nuttall.

Graeme Stewart, Network Rail’s senior sponsor for Kintore, said: “Rail is already among the most sustainable forms of transport and we are committed to working alongside the Scottish Government to decarbonise the rail industry by 2035.

“Work on the new station is progressing to plan and we look forward to opening Kintore in May – delivering new travel choices for the local community.”

Lawrence Shackman, Transport Scotland’s head of rail projects and technical services, said: “This is an excellent example of how we are not only supporting our commitment to decarbonise rail in Scotland by 2035, but also our bold ambition to phase out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032.

“Through linking electric vehicle infrastructure directly with access to rail, we are actively encouraging greener end-to-end journeys as an integral part of our efforts to improve air quality and our response to the climate emergency.” 

The original Kintore station opened in 1854, but closed a century later in the Beeching cuts.

Reopening Kintore has been made possible by the double-tracking of the line between Aberdeen-Inverurie delivered as part of the Aberdeen-Inverness Improvement Project.

Funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by Network Rail , the Aberdeen-Inverness Improvement Project increased capacity on the route between the two cities so more trains can run on the line.