1952 and 2004 the Royal Air Force station RAF Buchan was located near the town. The radar unit ceased to be a RAF station on 1 September 2004 and was downgraded to a Remote Radar Head named RRH Buchan. Rail Peterhead is further from a railway station (at from Aberdeen) than any other town of its size in Great Britain. The town once had two stations, namely Peterhead railway station and Peterhead Docks railway station. Passenger trains on the Formartine and Buchan Railway stopped in 1965 under the Beeching Axe, and freight in 1970. The start of reconstruction of the Borders Railway to Galashiels (early 2013) has begun a local political debate into the possibility of reopening the line from Aberdeen to Fraserburgh and Peterhead. Twin town Ålesund, Norway Notable people Thomas Abernethy, Arctic and Antarctic explorer William Aitken, Scottish League footballer Jon S. Baird, director Eric Temple Bell, mathematician and science fiction author Peter Buchan, editor Charles Creighton, physician and medical author William Gibson, politician Alexander Hall, Scottish League footballer Arthur D. Hay, judge William Hay, architect Margaret Jope, biochemist George Keith, missionary James Keith, soldier Marino Keith, Scottish League footballer William Keith, colonial governor of Pennsylvania George King, botanist George Kynoch, engineering businessman Jim Lovie, footballer Stuart MacLeod, magician Gilbert Mair, sailor and merchant trader Donald Manson, 19th-century whaler and harbourmaster of Peterhead Frederick Martin, politician Jamie McLeary, golfer Dugald McTavish Lumsden, soldier Peter Mullan, actor and film maker James Niven, physician James Wales, artist See also List of Provosts of Peterhead Clerkhill Buchanhaven – village within Peterhead Peterhead power station Scotland-Norway interconnector Whaling in Scotland References External links Peterhead Town Trail Peterhead Scottish Week – Annual gala in town Local Authority Covering Peterhead Area Peterhead Lifeboat Station Peterhead Tourism Peterhead Development Partnership Rediscover Peterhead Business Improvement District Towns in Aberdeenshire Ports and harbours of Scotland Port cities and towns of the North Sea Fishing communities in Scotland Populated coastal places in Scotland