A catastrophic fire broke out on Saturday 17th, as Troon Station in Scotland lit up in flames. The fire was called at around 12.40 and aerial aid and 5 fire engines were called to the scene on Barassie Street.
Fortunately, the Railway Heritage Trust tweeted that they would be offering the station a £500k grant to help with damages. The historic station opened in 1892 and was designed by renowned railway architect James Miller, who designed other west coast stations, as well as Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
The blaze caused significant damage to the building on platform 1, alongside the overhead power cable. Network Rail is currently measuring the full extent of the damage, and ScotRail stated that passengers will not be able to travel by train from Glasgow Central to Ayre until further notice.
A Network Rail spokesperson said “teams are working hard on site to understand the full extent of damage this fire has caused to both Troon station and the railway network. Once out structural surveys are complete, we have colleagues at the ready to begin work on the recovery operation.”
Although Railway Heritage Trust has offered half a million to help restore the station, it said this grant would only cover a small chunk of the cost. In a BBC article, the director, Andy Savage, called the fire “a real devastation.”
He added, “the key thing with this is whether the iron and steel structure that supports and forms the roof between the two platforms has survived and is salvageable because if that is salvageable then there are options.”
The station was a part of the community for over a century, and many people devastated by the wreckage took to twitter to share their thoughts:
@Grim_Raspberry said, "we are just along the street from Troon station. Such a lovely building destroyed. Hopefully it will be fully restored as soon as possible. The Railway Heritage trust has offered £500,000 towards restoration which is great."
@indysossie said, “the kiosk is amazing and the coffee is awfy guid – the lady used to remember your order if ye were a regular tae. I’d walk up and she would already have a copy of the National folded over and a skinny latte on the way.”
@GirvanSands said, “Aww naw! That was a beautiful train station. I used to stop there instead of Ayr on my way to Glasgow for the excellent rolls from the kiosk.”
No one knows exactly what triggered the fire, but it was determined by police that it was not intentional, and luckily no one was hurt.
Services from Glasgow Central to Ayr will start and terminate at Kilwinning and no alternative transport will be available today (Monday 19 July.)
