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| General information | |||||
| Location | Keith,Moray Scotland | ||||
| Coordinates | 57°33′05″N2°57′15″W / 57.5514°N 2.9542°W /57.5514; -2.9542 | ||||
| Grid reference | NJ430516 | ||||
| Managed by | ScotRail | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | KEH[2] | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Great North of Scotland Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | Great North of Scotland Railway,Highland Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | London, Midland and Scottish Railway | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 10 October 1856 | Opened | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  68,102 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 10,934 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  47,084 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 55,948 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 71,474 | ||||
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Keith railway station is arailway station serving the town ofKeith, Moray,Scotland. The station is managed byScotRail and is on theAberdeen to Inverness Line, betweenHuntly andElgin, measured 53 miles 8 chains (85.5 km) fromAberdeen, or 30 miles 20 chains (48.7 km) fromForres.[3]
The station was originally owned by theHighland Railway and was known as Keith Junction, the line from the west having opened by theInverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway in 1858 and becoming part of the Highland Railway in 1865.[4] It was the point where the line fromInverness made an end-on junction with theGreat North of Scotland Railway fromAberdeen (which opened in 1856)[5] to enable exchange of goods and passengers. As built, it was located in the vee of the routes to Inverness and toDufftown (which diverges to the southwest here) and had four platforms - one through one for each route, plus two east facing bays for GNSR services.[6] It was taken over by theLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway at the1923 Grouping and then became part of the Scottish Region ofBritish Railways uponnationalisation in 1948.
Today only a single platform remains in full-time use, though the Dufftown branch platform (numbered 1) is available if required for turning back trains from the Aberdeen direction (though no trains are scheduled to do so in the current timetable).[7] The bays have been filled in, having been abandoned and tracks lifted in the early 1970s after the closure of theMoray Coast Line (for which the station was a terminus). Asignal box (which retains the nameKeith Junction) remains at the eastern end to control apassing loop on thesingle track main line beyond the station, the now little-used goods yard (formerly used by trains accessing the nearbyChivas Regal whisky plant) and the stub of the Dufftown branch.
The Dufftown and Craigellachie line was closed to passengers byBritish Railways in May 1968 as a result of theBeeching Axe. The line has since been preserved as theKeith and Dufftown Railway (reopening in 2000/01), but the link between it and the national network was severed byRailtrack in 1998 - two 60-foot track panels having been removed as a condition of the transfer of the branch to the K&DR.[8] The preservation society hopes to reinstate the connection and the still-extant but disused section beyond to Keith Town at some point in the future and run through trains from here to Dufftown, which would see platform 1 return to regular use. Discussions with regard to this were held between the K&DRA, the local MSPRichard Lochhead andTransport Scotland in the autumn of 2015.[9]
The old station buildings were replaced by new ones in 1988 in a rebuilding programme costing £200,000[10] (equivalent to £680,000 in 2023).[11]
The station has good facilities for its rural location, with a part-time-staffed ticket office, accessible toilet, ticket machine, two car parks, bench, bike racks and help point. The station has four methods of step-free access.[12]
| 2002–03 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries and exits | 62,766 | 66,531 | 70,599 | 68,963 | 75,036 | 77,354 | 77,030 | 89,690 | 94,336 | 95,002 | 97,033 | 102,074 | 98,666 | 91,992 | 89,948 | 81,112 | 68,102 | 10,934 | 47,084 | 55,948 |
The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.
As of May 2022, There is a basic two-hourly frequency in each directions (with peak extras), toInverness northbound andAberdeen southbound, giving a total of 11 trains each way. The first departure to Aberdeen each weekday and Saturday continues south toEdinburgh Waverley, and another continues toStonehaven in the evening. On Sundays there are five trains each way.[7]
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntly | ScotRail Aberdeen to Inverness Line | Elgin | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Strathisla Mills | Great North of Scotland Railway Keith and Dufftown Railway | Terminus | ||
In addition to the potential reinstatement of the Dufftown branch,Transport Scotland have published proposals to improve the facilities here. This could see the existing passing loop extended through the station and a second platform built north of the current one.[14] Other upgrades planned for the station include a bus interchange, taxi drop-off point and car park extension.[15]
