Gourock railway station is a terminus of the Inverclyde Line, located at Gourock pierhead and serving the town as well as the ferry services it was originally built for. The Caledonian Railway found that their service to Greenock Central railway station which was an inconvenient walk away from the quay was losing Clyde steamer trade to the new Glasgow and South Western Railway terminal at Prince's Pier in Greenock. The Caley extended their line through a new tunnel to the small fishing village of Gourock, with the railway running on the seaward side of Shore Street to the terminal which opened on 1 June 1889, and subsequently based the headquarters of their steamer fleet there. The terminal is now the headquarters of Caledonian MacBrayne who run a car ferry to Dunoon from the pier, and it also serves Clyde Marine passenger ferries to Kilcreggan and Helensburgh using the Kenilworth. The Heilanmans Umbrella Inside Glasgow Central, looking south east across the main concourse Inside Glasgow Central, looking north east across the main concourse Glasgow Central Station is the larger of the two main-line railway stations in Glasgow, Scotland. ... Cardonald railway station is located in the Glasgow district of Cardonald. ... Hillington East railway station is located in the Glasgow district of Hillington. ... Hillington West railway station is located in the district of Hillington, Glasgow, Scotland. ... Paisley Gilmour Street railway station is located in the centre of the town of Paisley, Scotland. ... Bishopton is a railway station on the Inverclyde Line, serving the town of Bishopton in Renfrewshire, Scotland. ... Bogston railway station is on the Inverclyde Line, between the towns of Port Glasgow and Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland. ... Inverclyde Line is a railway line running from Glasgow through Gilmour St, Paisley to Gourock and Wemyss Bay on the West Coast. ... Gourock (Guireag in Scottish Gaelic which means pimple shaped or rounded hill in reference to the many hills surrounding the area,) is a burgh in Inverclyde, Scotland. ... The Caledonian Railway was a Scottish railway company which was grouped into the London Midland and Scottish Railway by the Railways Act 1921 in 1923. ... Henry Bells PS Comet started a rapid expansion of steam services on the Firth of Clyde, and within four years a steamer service was in operation on the inland Loch Lomond, a forerunner of the lake steamers that still grace the Swiss lakes. ... Glasgow and South Western Railway formed part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Caledonian MacBrayne (usually shortened to Cal-Mac) is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries between the mainland of Scotland and all major islands on Scotlands West coast. ... The Holy Loch seen across the Firth of Clyde with Dunoon on the left The PS Waverley leaves Dunoon Pier, to sail up the Firth of Clyde. ... Kilcreggan is a village situated on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde at the end of the Rosneath Peninsula, between the Gareloch and Loch Long, about 25 miles (40 km) west of the centre of Glasgow by boat, though 38 miles (60 km) by road. ... Helensburgh (Baile Eilidh in Gaelic) is a Scottish town historically part of Dunbartonshire, but since local government reorganisation in 1995 in Argyll and Bute, on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde. ... Kenilworth arriving at Gourock pierhead. ...

The station was built to take large numbers of passengers boarding the steamers, but has been considerably reduced in size for the smaller traffic volumes of today. In the 1980s the westmost end of the station was cut back, and in the 1990s the adjacent timber quay was demolished. More recently the glazed canopies over the platforms have been taken down, leaving only the cast iron supporting structure and the slate roofs and glazed canopies over the section incorporating station offices and a waiting room. The adjacent Bay Hotel was also demolished in the 1990s, and there are plans to shorten the railway tracks and construct a new station adjacent to Caledonian MacBrayne's headquarters. This would free up space for a major development, possibly of a supermarket, but in the meantime the station is rather neglected.

A train at the station, showing the structure where canopies have been removed.

A train leaves the pierhead at the same time as the ferry sets off for Dunoon.

The pierhead in 1990, with the Bay Hotel and platform canopies still evident.