Gretna, Scotland - Transport

Transport

A military road was built in 1763 by General Wade linking Gretna to Portpatrick, then the main ferry port to Northern Ireland. This was later to become the route of much of the A75 road to Stranraer. However, the A75 is a modern road, post-dating World War I. The original route between Gretna and Annan is now the B721 road, and the A75 diverges significantly from it; similarly, the B724 was the original route between Annan and Dumfries.

In the 1840s, there were three main railway companies building lines around Gretna and this resulted in three railway stations named "Gretna". The first station called "Gretna" was opened by the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway on 23 August 1843, this station was renamed Gretna Green railway station in April 1852. It closed on 6 December 1965, but a new station was opened nearby on 20 September 1993, the station is served by Glasgow South Western Line. This station had a new platform added in 2009,to coincide with the redoubling of this section of track. The other two stations were located a short distance to the east of Gretna. Gretna (Caledonian) railway station was opened on 9 September 1847 by the Caledonian Railway on its main line between Carlisle and Glasgow and Edinburgh. The station closed on 10 September 1951. The North British Railway built Gretna (Border Union) railway station next to the Caledonian station, at Gretna junction, on its short link to the Border Union Railway. The station opened on 1 November 1861 and closed during World War One on 9 August 1915.

The main Anglo-Scottish trunk road running north–south through Gretna was the A74 road. With the opening of the M6 motorway to the south of Carlisle in December 1970, much of the A74 in Scotland was upgraded to motorway standard in the 1960s and 1970s; and the upgraded sections of road were renamed the A74(M). The, so called, Cumberland Gap was the remaining 6 miles (9.7 km) of non-upgraded dual-carriageway A74 between the northern terminus of the M6 at Carlisle, and the southern end of the A74(M) at the Scottish border.

The A75 is a major trunk road heading west along the south coast of Scotland from Gretna. Its eastern terminus at Gretna was originally the A74, but this was changed to a junction with the A74(M). The A75 runs past Eastriggs, Annan, Dumfries, Castle Douglas, Gatehouse of Fleet, Newton Stewart and Glenluce before ending in the west at Stranraer.