A major railway station in North Lanarkshire, Motherwell (Gael: Tobar na Màthar) lies on the West Coast Main Line, but is also a stop for trains on the Argyle Line suburban network, the Hamilton Circle Line, Motherwell to Cumbernauld Line and services between Glasgow Central Station and Edinburgh. Located in the town centre, this station was opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1885 to replace a station on the edge of the town at Orbiston which had been constructed on the Wishaw and Coltness Railway in 1843. The station was rebuilt with four through platforms in the 1970s, coinciding with the electrification of the West Coast Main Line, but the buildings can at best be described as utilitarian.
Operated by ScotRail, Motherwell Railway Station is staffed part-time and was used by 1,387,356 passengers in the year 2016-17. It is preceded by Lockerbie Railway Station, 53 miles (85 km) to the south southeast, and followed by Glasgow Central, 11 miles (18 km) to the west northwest.