Route
The line runs along the same Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway route as the Inverclyde Line as far as Paisley Gilmour Street, using different platforms at Paisley Gilmour Street, where it turns south west towards Kilwinning on the route of the former Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. Here the line branches in two, with one branch running south along the coast to Troon and Ayr. This branch also serves Prestwick Airport station, which opened in 1994. The other branch runs north along the coast to Ardrossan or Largs, becoming a single track for passenger trains after Saltcoats. This part of the network is heavily used by freight traffic to carry coal from the Hunterston Terminal. Beyond Ayr, 'Sprinter' DMUs continue south towards Girvan and Stranraer.
The line connects at Troon with ferries to Larne (summers only), at Ardrossan to Brodick on the Isle of Arran, and at Largs to Great Cumbrae.
Read more about this topic: Ayrshire Coast Line
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