Commemorative plaque at Kilmarnock station, celebrating the Kilmarnock & Troon Railway
The starting point for my trip today (a Saturday) was Kilmarnock station, where I had just arrived. It is, of course, possible to travel to Troon by train (on the line round to Ayr, Girvan and Stranraer) but on this occasion, my journey was by bus. The Kilmarnock bus station is a short walk from the railway station. It has been refurbished recently, notably to install overhead power gantries for the electric buses on local services, which are able to recharge whilst parked on the bus stance.
The bus service to Troon is operated by Stagecoach West Scotland, on route 10. From Kilmarnock, the bus runs at a frequency of one bus an hour, from 0730 to 1830 on weekdays. From Troon, the return journeys to Kilmarnock start at 0756 through to 1925, again on an hourly basis. There is a different service on Sundays (route 110), with eight journeys in each direction on broadly 90 minute intervals, starting at 1115 from Kilmarnock; and 1030 from Troon. The full timetable is available on the Stagecoach Bus website; and can be downloaded in pdf, which is what I have relied upon. [LINK]
https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables
Stagecoach operate this service with Alexander Dennis Enviro 100 Electric Vehicle (EV) buses which are relatively new (they first started to arrive in October 2024). These vehicles can accommodate 25 seated passengers; but also have a space for a wheelchair (in which case the bus has room for 22 other seated customers). The Enviro 100EV comes with stop announcements as well as digital screens indicating the next bus stop; and for passenger and driver security, also has CCTV.
According to the Alexander Dennis website, Stagecoach were able to acquire these modern electric buses with financial support from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Zero Emission bus challenge fund.
Stagecoach Alexander Dennis (AD) Enviro 100EV on service 10 to Troon. Here shown at Dundonald.
I bought a Mid Ayrshire DayRider ticket at £5.80, for use any Stagecoach bus in the Mid Ayrshire region. Given that Troon is around 14 miles from Kilmarnock, even for just a return trip, I thought that £5.80 was good value for money.
The 10 bus combines elements of an urban route, semi-rural route and an inter-urban route. Along the way, both in Kilmarnock and in Troon, the bus visits housing estates where the shorter length (8.5 metres) and relative narrowness (2.35 metres) allow the bus a good degree of manoeuvrability, though on my two trips there were not too many residential cars parked along the road; most vehicles were parked off road in private driveways. The AD Enviro 100EV copes well with the sleeping policemen that are an integral part of the roads on the estates, as well as the chicanes installed to slow down the motor traffic. Inside the bus, there was a digital display which showed the name of the next stop, accompanied by an announcement as we approached each stopping point.
Dundonald Castle
On its way to Troon, the bus goes through Gatehead, where we pass over the Kilmarnock to Troon railway line on a level crossing, then continues on to the village of Dundonald. Thereafter, we visit the community of Loans and finally do a loop around the Muirhead housing estate before reaching Troon. In terms of sightseeing, the highlight of the journey is the castle at Dundonald, which dates from the 14th century. It is worth stopping off here to climb the steep hill to see the castle and the view across the village. There is a visitor centre at the foot of the hill with a museum and café. The one hour interval between buses is sufficient to make a visit here possible, the more so when you have the DayRider ticket. The bus stop for the castle is a short distance from the access road that leads up to the visitor centre.
Stagecoach 10 arrives at Troon town centre. This bus is in the new Stagecoach dark blue livery, launched in April 2025.
The journey time to Troon is around an hour and we arrive in Troon on schedule. The bus does a tour of the town centre before heading for the terminus to the north, at Barassie. On the Saturday morning that I travelled on this bus, there were plenty of customers using this bus and we did pick up and drop off quite a few passengers in the housing estates, both in Kilmarnock and towards Troon.
Stagecoach 10 on return to Kilmarnock Bus Station. This Alexander Dennis Enviro 100EV is in the old Stagecoach livery, which pre-dates introduction of the new dark blue (April 2025).
In both directions, the Alexander Dennis Enviro 100EV buses were clean and welcoming. The seating (imitation leather style seats) were comfortable for the duration of the journey. The ride was smooth, despite the poor condition of some of the roads (especially in the Muirhead estate). Overall, a pleasurable trip to and from Troon. I will certainly take this bus again.
Commemorative plaque on the wall next to The Harbour Bar, opposite the CalMac ferry terminal. This article ends where it started – with a reference to the Kilmarnock & Troon Railway.
Finally, I should confirm that at Troon, I did make it down to the Harbour area where I noticed the National Transport Trust plaque, which mentions the Kilmarnock & Troon Railway once again. Whilst on this trip I did not travel by train, at least I have been able to bookend this article with two commemorative discs recalling the original rail connection between these two towns. As a footnote, there is also a memorial in Kilmarnock to the site of the original bus station, but unfortunately it is not so impressive as the two plaques we have here marking the railway. Perhaps that is because there is more nostalgia attached to the railways than there is to bus heritage.
The photographs are all mine.
Steven Ardron
5 June 2026
