Station Name: GREENOCK PRINCES PIER

 

[Source: Nick Catford]



Date opened: 25.5.1894
Location: Incorporated within the Clydeport Container Terminal at the end of Campbell Street
Company on opening: Greenock and Ayrshire Railway
Date closed to passengers: 2.2.1959 (boat trains until 30.11.1965)
Date closed completely: 29.9.1966
Company on closing: British Railway (Scottish region)
Present state: Demolished
County: Renfrewshire
OS Grid Ref: NS275772
Date of visit: 1963

Notes: Traffic on the Clyde Coast, serving numerous resorts amid outstanding scenery, was a good source of revenue. The Glasgow and South Western Railway developed a fleet of passenger steamers on the Firth of Clyde. These provided a service including the Isles of Arran, Bute and Cumbrae and places on the mainland between Greenock and Stranraer.

Greenock Albert Harbour was opened on 23rd December 1869 by the Greenock and Ayrshire Railway to cater for this traffic with fast connecting trains running to and from Glasgow Bridge Street via Kilmacolm in competition with the Caledonian Railway. In 1872 The Greenock and Ayrshire Railway absorbed by Glasgow and South Western Railway. The station was renamed Greenock Princes Pier in 1875 and a much grander station was built 100 yards to the north to compete with the Caledonian Railways Gourock station, opening on 25th May 1894. However by 1908 this traffic was recognised as insufficient for the intense resources provided by the railway companies and pooling arrangements were set up to share the use of steamers. Several steamers served in the First World War; ‘Mars’, ‘Neptune’ and ‘Minerva’ were casualties of this conflict, and never returned.

Regular passenger services to Greenock Princes Pier from Kilmacolm ended on 2nd February 1959 but was used by boat trains until 30th November 1965. The station was closed to freight on 29th September 1966. The station was demolished in 1967 and the site incorporated within the Clydeport Container Terminal

 

A school cruise used Greenock Princes Pier Station in Mat 1963. The ships funnel behind belongs to Dunera which was an ex-WWII troop ship converted to school cruise use by the British India Steam Navigation Line.
P
hoto by Roy Lambeth



View of the pier and railway station from the Firth of Clyde on 1894

The approach to Greenock Princes Pier Station
Photo by Jim Currie


 

 

 

:[Source: Nick Catford]


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