‘Nutty neighbours’ blamed for mystery closure of UK’s most remote …
“NUTTY neighbours” are being blamed for the mysterious closure of one of the most remote train stations in the UK.
Altnabreac Station first opened in 1874 and sits in the picturesque town of Caithness[1] in the Scottish Highlands.
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The station is located in Caithness in the Highlands
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The station was shut down by ScotRail last weekCredit: Alamy
It is ten miles from the nearest road and just six homes[2] sit nearby among 30ft deep peat bogs.
For almost 150 years, trains[3] stopped by the station to pick up and drop off less than 300 passengers a year.
But this all changed last week after Scotrail[4] announced that it was suspending all services to the station.
The reasons behind the axed services, however, remain a mystery after the train operator refused to provide an explanation.
Bosses hinted at problems with “access”, but locals have said that a pair of “nutty neighbours” could be behind it.
Darren Bruce, 39, told The Times[5] that the couple who bought the old station home off him two years prior cause havoc on the train line.
Former police detective Liz Howe and Ian Appleby are not from the area but bought the cottage after enjoying a holiday in the Highlands.
The couple, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, still own the home which relies on a well, which often freezes in cold months, and a diesel generator for power.
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But Bruce, a businessman, and other locals, claim that the couple often prevent workers from accessing the platform to carry out maintenance – including gritting work during the winter.
He added that he tries to avoid them in public in an effort to prevent confrontation.
Bruce told The Times: “As soon as you go anywhere near, they are out roaring and shouting.
“They are always coming out with Bible stuff; hexing people … I don’t know what is wrong with them.”
He added: “We thought they were lovely and then they turned strange. Oh, God, yes, they are religious.”
Liz was previously reported missing by close ones after she “turned to God” back in 2020.
A UK-wide police hunt later located her safe and well in the Highlands, with relatives claiming she had cut herself off after trying to “warn people” that “God was coming to take us away”.
But the couple’s feud with Network Rail came to a head in March after workers tried to install a kiosk at the Altnabreac Station.
The kiosk would allow passengers to flag down trains using a “request stop” at the station, which is unmanned.
However, as staff arrived in 27 trucks to install it, Bruce claimed that Liz and Ian “chained themselves to a gate and recited the laws of Moses” and blocked access.
According to The Times, Network Rail obtained an interim interdict to stop them from interfering with work.
Network Rail said: “We’re disappointed that colleagues have been obstructed and unlawfully refused access to Altnabreac station. We’re … doing everything we can to bring train services back to Altnabreac.”
BT and its subsidiary EE also followed suit and obtained an interim interdict after they faced conflict with the couple.
Engineers were stopped from installing a 4G mast to help connect the rural area after Liz and Ian claimed the areas fell under their property.
They blocked workers from accessing the station’s level crossing by parking their cars on the road, forcing them to install the mast via helicopter.
The Times stated that the couple could not be contacted for comment as Liz’s family and locals don’t know how to reach them.