Troon station fire

THE Railway Heritage Fund has offered £500,000 towards the cost of repairs following a fire that severely damaged the Victorian Category B listed Troon station on the Ayrshire Coast line, forcing its temporary closure and the suspension of train services.

Firefighters were called at about lunchtime on July 17. The blaze had broken out in the ticket office and it took several hours to bring it under control. No one was injured, but much of the building on platform one was destroyed.

Following an assessment of the damage, engineers installed specially-designed props on both platforms to support beams over the track carrying the overhead cables.

The cables were replaced and repairs carried out at track level.

Services resumed on July 23, with the station itself reopening to southbound trains the following Monday and traffic in both directions on July 30.