Star station where few trains are spotted gets big facelift

Published on Friday 21 August 2009 18:55

THE desolate Scottish train station made famous in the cult film Trainspotting is getting a £400,000 facelift – because it is so popular with tourists.

Corrour station, the highest in the UK at 1,300 feet above sea level, features in the big screen version of Irvine Welsh's tale of a gang of drug-dealing friends romping through Edinburgh.

In one scene, Renton and Begbie, played by Scots actors Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle, enjoy a drunken day in the countryside with drug addict pals after getting off a train at Corrour.

And with so many film-lovers following in their footsteps on the West Highland Way, Network Rail decided to completely revamp the station.

Project manager Andy Docherty said: "You could never publish the famous quotes from the film because they're so blasphemous, but let's just say there's been a bit of colourful dialogue from the film shouted out into the hills by the boys on-site.

"They're a young team and there's a lot of banter but they also know there's a job to be done and they have to be professional about it.

"You see Americans coming off the train and they think it's a film set, but it's a real working station.

"You also see plenty of youngsters getting off the train with carry-outs looking to copy the film and it's always a good laugh.

"Unfortunately the Corrour station has seen better days so we are sprucing the whole place up to make it look absolutely pristine for all these interested visitors."

It didn't take long for the ten-strong team to stumble across the same problem as the Train-spotting stars – there are no roads – leaving them to carry 4,000 timber sleepers to the hilltop station.

And to protect the lush countryside they even had to close the line temporarily while they drove a digger up the railway line.

Mr Docherty added: "It looked pretty grim in the film thanks to some very clever camera work, but in fact it's an absolutely stunning site and we want to leave it as we found it."