Culrain railway station

Station nameboard now preserved at the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway

The station opened in 1871, as part of the Sutherland Railway, later becoming part of the Highland Railway and later the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

The original nameboard is now preserved at the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway, in Kent (see left).

The station is close to Carbisdale Castle, which operated from 1945 to 2011 as a youth hostel owned by the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. The hostel has been closed since 2011 as a result of structural damage. Following its sale to a consortium in 2016,[5] planning permission was granted in 2017/2018 to turn the castle back into a private residence but now with swimming pool.[6]

The station has a waiting shelter, a bench, a help point and cycle racks, and has step-free access.[7] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

On 20 December 2022, Transport Scotland introduced a new "Press & Ride" system at Culrain,[8] following successful trials of the system at Scotscalder over the previous four months.[9][10] Previously, passengers wishing to board a train at Scotscalder had to flag the train by raising their arm (as is still done at other request stops around the country); this meant that the driver needed to reduce the train's speed before a request stop (to look out for any potential passengers on the platform and be able to stop if necessary), even if the platform was empty. The new system consists of an automatic kiosk (with a button for passengers to press) at the platform; this will alert the driver about any waiting passengers in advance and, if there is no requirement to stop, the train can maintain line speed through the request stops, thus improving reliability on the whole line.[11]

The station has a single platform which is long enough for a five-coach train. The railway line through Culrain is single track, with the nearest passing loop to the north being at Lairg and to the south at Ardgay.[4][12]

In the last few years, Culrain has generally seen falling passenger numbers, as shown below.

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

On Mondays to Saturdays, there are four trains a day southbound to Inverness and four northbound to Wick. On Sundays, there is one train in each direction.[14]

This station has been designated as a request stop since 2013.[15] This means that passengers intending to alight must inform the guard in advance, and any passengers wishing to board must press a "request" button located at the kiosk on the platform.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Ardgay		ScotRail Far North Line		Invershin
	Historical railways
Bonar Bridge Line and Station open		Highland Railway Sutherland Railway		Invershin Line and Station open

• Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.

• "RAILSCOT on Sutherland Railway".