West Highland Line
A train to Mallaig crossing Rannoch Moor
Overview
Type	Rural Rail[1]
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Glasgow Argyll and Bute Highland Scotland
Termini	Glasgow Queen Street Mallaig Oban
Stations	33
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Caledonian Sleeper Abellio ScotRail West Coast Railways
Rolling stock	Class 156 "Super Sprinter" Caledonian Sleeper stock
Technical
Line length	Glasgow Queen Street to Crianlarich: 59 miles 22 chains (95.4 km) Crianlarich to Oban: 41 miles 73 chains (67.5 km) Crianlarich to Fort William: 63 miles 14 chains (101.7 km) Fort William to Mallaig: 41 miles 28 chains (66.5 km) *Total (including reversing at Fort William): 205 miles 57 chains (331.1 km)
Number of tracks	One
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Operating speed	70 mph (110 km/h) maximum[1]

The West Highland Line (Scottish Gaelic: Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean - "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the world by readers of independent travel magazine Wanderlust in 2009, ahead of the notable Trans-Siberian line in Russia and the Cuzco to Machu Picchu line in Peru.^[2][3][4] The ScotRail website has since reported that the line has been voted the most scenic railway line in the world for the second year running.^{[citation needed]}

The West Highland Line is one of two railway lines which access the remote and mountainous west coast of Scotland, the other being the Kyle of Lochalsh Line which connects Inverness with Kyle of Lochalsh. The line is the westernmost railway line in Great Britain.

At least in part, the West Highland Line is the same railway line as that referred to as the West Highland Railway.

History[edit]

Glenfinnan viaduct

The route was built in several sections:-

• Glasgow Queen Street to Cowlairs Junction - Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway
  


• Cowlairs Junction to Bowling - Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway (later absorbed into the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway)


• Bowling to Dumbarton Central - Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire Railway, operated by the Caledonian Railway
  


• Dumbarton Central to Dalreoch - Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction Railway
  


• Dalreoch to Craigendoran - Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway
  


• Craigendoran to Fort William - West Highland Railway sponsored by the North British Railway
  


• Crianlarich to Oban - Callander and Oban Railway, operated by the Caledonian Railway.

There is an additional section from Fort William (or a junction near Fort William) to Mallaig, built as the Mallaig Extension Railway.

Route description[edit]

Train crossing bridge at Banavie

The summit of the line just north of Corrour

Shortly after leaving Queen Street station in Glasgow, and beyond Queen Street Tunnel, the line diverges from the main trunk route to Edinburgh & Perth at Cowlairs and follows a northwesterly course through the suburbs of Maryhill and Kelvindale. Between Westerton and Dumbarton, the route is shared with the North Clyde Line to Helensburgh before branching northward at Craigendoran Junction towards Garelochhead, the section where the West Highland Line itself is generally accepted to begin. It gives high-level views of the Gareloch and Loch Long before emerging alongside the northwesterly shores of Loch Lomond, then climbs Glen Falloch to Crianlarich.

The branch to Oban diverges at Crianlarich, an important Highland junction of both road and rail, and runs through Glen Lochy to Dalmally and through the Pass of Brander to reach salt water at Taynuilt and Connel Ferry before a final climb over a hill to Oban. Both the Maillaig and Oban branches of the line pass through the village of Tyndrum about 5km from Crianlarich, making it both the smallest and most-northerly settlement in the UK to be served by more than one railway station.

After Bridge of Orchy, the line climbs onto Rannoch Moor, past the former crossing point at Gorton Crossing to Rannoch station. In winter, the moor is often covered with snow, and deer may be seen running from the approaching train. The station at Corrour on the moor is one of the most remote stations in Britain and is not accessible by any public road. This is the summit of the line at 410 m (1347 ft) above sea level. Carrying on northwards, the line descends above the shores of Loch Treig and through the narrow Monessie Gorge. The final stop before Fort William is Spean Bridge. The section between Fort William and Mallaig passes over the Glenfinnan Viaduct, through Arisaig with its views of the Small Isles of Rùm, Eigg, Muck and Canna, and the white sands of Morar before coming to Mallaig itself.

With the exception of the route between Glasgow Queen Street and Helensburgh Upper, and the short section between Fort William Junction and Fort William station, the railway is signalled using the Radio Electronic Token Block, controlled from the signal box at Banavie station.

Services[edit]

Passenger services on the line are operated by Abellio ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper: six daily return services between Glasgow Queen Street and Oban, three daily return services between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig, and one nightly (except Saturdays) Caledonian Sleeper service between London Euston and Fort William.

During the summer season from May until October a steam locomotive-hauled daily return service between Fort William and Mallaig known as "The Jacobite" is operated by West Coast Railways. There is one train a day in May, September and October, and two trains per day from June until the end of August.

Onward ferry connections operated by Caledonian MacBrayne are available from Mallaig to the Isle of Skye, to the small isles of Rùm, Eigg, Muck, and Canna, to South Uist, and to Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula. From Oban ferries sail to the islands of Lismore, Colonsay, Coll, Tiree, Mull and Barra.

Route timings[edit]

Since improvements to Scottish trunk roads in the 1980s, a train journey can take significantly longer than the equivalent road journey. There are several reasons for this. The line is entirely single track once it leaves the North Clyde suburban network at Craigendoran and trains must wait at stations with crossing loops for opposite direction trains to pass. Even when no crossing is timetabled, each train must pause at the various token exchange points whilst the driver contacts the main signalling centre at Banavie to swap tokens electronically and obtain permission to proceed. Up to 15 minutes have to be allocated for trains to divide or combine at the junction station at Crianlarich, whilst trains heading to/from Mallaig also have to reverse at Fort William & traverse the Banavie swing bridge at low speed. A further issue is finding suitable timetable paths for Oban & Mallaig trains on the busy North Clyde line, which carries an intensive local stopping service. As West Highland trains only stop at Dumbarton Central & Dalmuir on this stretch, it is not uncommon for them be delayed by a preceding local train and so recovery time has to be included in their schedules to reduce the possibility of a late arrival in Glasgow.

Over much of the Rannoch Moor section the speed limit is 60 mph for the Sprinter and 70 mph on the approach to Rannoch station. The Caledonian Sleeper travels at 40 mph maximum, slowing down for a number of bridges on the route due to the heavy weight of the Class 67 locomotive which hauled the train until the end of the old franchise in April 2015. New sleeper operator Serco has replaced these with refurbished Class 73/9 electro-diesels since it took over, which have a lighter axle load; it isn't yet clear if the new locos will be cleared to run at higher speeds now they are in service.^[5]

Rolling Stock[edit]

Past, Present and future rolling stock on the line

Past Rolling Stock (From 1980)
Class	Image	Operator	Route	Maximum Speed		Builder/ Built	In Service	Leased From	Other Notes
				mph	kmh
37		British Rail (Until 1983) BR ScotRail (From 1983)	Glasgow Queen Street to Oban/Mallaig (Until 1989) London Euston to Fort William (Takes over from electric loco at Edinburgh) Freight	80	130	English Electric 1960-1965	1981-1985	N/A	Class 37/0
		BR ScotRail	Glasgow Queen Street to Oban/Mallaig (Until 1989) London Euston to Fort William (Takes over from electric loco at Edinburgh) Freight	90	145		1985-2006		Class 37/4
67		First ScotRail (Until 2015) Caledonian Sleeper (Until 2016)	London Euston to Fort William (Took over from electric loco at Edinburgh)	125	201	Alstom 1999-2000	2006-2016	DB Cargo UK
Mark 1 Passenger Coach		British Rail (Until 1983) BR ScotRail (From 1983) The Royal Scotsman (1985 - 1989)	Glasgow Queen Street to Oban or Mallaig	100	160	1951-1963	1961-1989	N/A
Current Rolling Stock
156		Scotrail - British Rail (until 1997), National Express (1997-2004), First (2005-2015), Abellio (2015-present)	Glasgow Queen Street to Oban/Mallaig	75	121	Metro-Cammell 1987-1989	1989-	N/A
73		Caledonian Sleeper	London Euston to Fort William (Takes over from electric loco at Edinburgh)	90	145	British Railways Eastleigh Works 1962 English Electric 1965-1967 Rebuilt by 2014-2016	2016-	GB Railfreight	Replaced Class 67 when their lease from DB Cargo UK Expired Class 73/9.
66		DB Cargo UK	Freight	75	121	Electro-Motive Diesel 1998-2015	2000-	N/A	Class 66/0
		GB Railfreight							Class 66/7
		Belmond Ltd	Special Passenger Workings (Royal Scotsman)					GB Railfreight
37		West Coast Railways	Special Passenger Workings (Royal Scotsman)	90	145	English Electric 1960-1965	1985-	Direct Rail Services	Class 37/5
		Direct Rail Services	Freight/Special Passenger Workings					N/A	Class 37/6
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0		West Coast Railways	Mallaig to Fort William	40	64	-	-		The Jacobite
Peppercorn Class K1				40	64	-	-
Mark 1 Passenger coach				100	160	Cravens 1951-1963
Mark 2 Passenger Coach		Caledonian Sleeper	London Euston to Fort William	100	160	BREL 1963-1975	1964-December 2018		To be replaced in late 2018 by new British Rail Mark 5 Passenger Stock.
		West Coast Railways	Special Passenger Workings
Mark 3 Sleeper Coach		Caledonian Sleeper	London Euston to Fort William	125	201	BREL 1979-1980	1980-December 2018		To be replaced in late 2018 by new British Rail Mark 5 Sleeper Stock.
		Belmond Ltd	Special Passenger Workings (Royal Scotsman)
Pullman coach						Metro-Cammell (1960)	1990-	N/A
Future Rolling Stock
153		Abellio ScotRail	Glasgow Queen Street to Oban/Mallaig	75	121	Leyland Bus 1987-1988[6] Converted to Class 153 by Hunslet-Barclay 1991-1992[7]	October/November 2018	N/A	These single car units are to be completely adapted to accommodate bikes, skis and other outdoor equipment. They will be attached to the Class 156s either as centre cars, or as extra coaches at either end.
Mark 5 Passenger Coach		Caledonian Sleeper	London Euston to Fort William	100	161	CAF 2016-2018	Late 2018	Caledonian Sleeper Rail Leasing	These new coaches will replace the Mark 2s.
Mark 5 Sleeper Coach			London Euston to Fort William						These new coaches will replace the Mark 3s.

In early 2018 it was widely reported that Class 158s would be used from Q3-Q4 2018 to replace the Class 156s currently in use for Scotrail. However, following investigation it was discovered that the line does not have sufficient gauge clearance for the class. As of August 2018^[update] studies were still ongoing.^[8]

Some notable railway-related features[edit]

• The Horse Shoe Curve, between Upper Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy
  


• The Cruach Rock snowshed, between Rannoch and Corrour
  


• 
  Glenfinnan viaduct, between Locheilside and Glenfinnan
  


• The Pass of Brander stone signals, between Dalmally and Taynuilt
  


• 
  Arisaig is the furthest west railway station in Great Britain.

The two branches of the line are described in detail by John Thomas in his two books (see Sources).

The route in detail[edit]

[ v t e ] West Highland Line
Legend
km from Glasgow 264.3 Mallaig 259.5 Morar 252.3 Arisaig 246.6 Beasdale Stops on request 239.0 Lochailort Stops on request 224.1 Glenfinnan 222.8 Glenfinnan Viaduct 213.6 Locheilside Stops on request 207.6 Loch Eil Outward Bound 202.8 Corpach 201.2 Banavie 197.5 Fort William 183.5 Spean Bridge 178.2 Roy Bridge 169.0 Tulloch 152.9 Corrour 141.2 Rannoch .... Gorton 116.3 Bridge of Orchy 103.8 Upper Tyndrum 163.3 Oban 153.3 Connel Ferry 142.4 Taynuilt 133.1 Falls of Cruachan summer only 127.9 Loch Awe 123.5 Dalmally 104.2 Tyndrum Lower 96.2 Crianlarich 82.1 Ardlui 69.2 Arrochar and Tarbet 51.9 Garelochhead 41.0 Helensburgh Upper 35.0 Cardross 26.6 Dumbarton Central 16.1 Dalmuir 0.0 Glasgow Queen Street Buchanan Street

Places served along the route from Glasgow Queen Street are listed below. Sleeper services to Fort William start, however, at London Euston, calling at Edinburgh Waverley and Queen Street Low Level (to pick up or set down depending on direction).

West Highland Line in film[edit]

Glenfinnan Viaduct, on the line between Fort William and Mallaig, is a filming location for the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter series of films.

Eddie McConnell's poetic documentary A Line for All Seasons (1970) showcases the line and its history set against the scenery of the western highlands as it changes through the seasons.^[9]

Corrour station features in Trainspotting (1996), directed by Danny Boyle.

Museum[edit]

There is a museum dedicated to the history of the West Highland Line situated at Glenfinnan Station.

Gallery[edit]

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  A freight train heading south on the West Highland Line
  

  
  

  
  


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  A Scotrail service crosses Loch Awe in 2017
  

  
  

  
  


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  Bridge of Orchy Station in 1961
  

  
  

  
  


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  Railway Bridge near Inverlochy Castle
  

  
  

  
  


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  Approaching the Glenfinnan Viaduct
  

  
  

  
  

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

Sources[edit]

• 
  Thomas, John (1965). The West Highland Railway. Newton Abbot: David and Charles (Publishers) Ltd.
  ISBN 0-7153-7281-5.


• 
  


• 
  Thomas, John (1966). The Callander and Oban Railway (1st ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David & Charles. OCLC 2316816.
  


• 
  Thomas, John; Farrington, J. H. (1990). The Callander and Oban Railway (2nd ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David St John Thomas. OCLC 60059451.
  


• 
  Thomas, John (2000). The Callander and Oban Railway (3rd ed.). Newton Abbot: Devon: David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-9465-3761-5. OCLC 228266316.
  

Further reading[edit]

• 
  McGregor, John (2013). Great Railway Journeys Through Time: West Highland Line. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445613369. OCLC 839316369.
  


• 
  Kelly, Peter (September 1983). "Pearls beyond price". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. pp. 23–33. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.
  


• 
  Bellass, Eddie (June 1984). "Oban line". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. pp. 35–37, 39. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.
  

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Highland Line.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for West Highland Line.

• 
  Video of entire journey from Glasgow Queen Street over Fort William to Mallaig: filmed from the cab of the train.


• Video footage of Garelochhead railway station


• Lochailort railway station