| West Highland Line | |
| Type: | Rural Rail[1] |
| System: | National Rail |
| Status: | Operational |
| Stations: | 33 |
| Owner: | Network Rail |
| Tracks: | Single-track |
| Speed: | 70mph maximum |
The West Highland Line (Gaelic; 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.[5]
The West Highland Line is one of two railway lines that 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.
The route was built in several sections:
There is an additional section from Fort William (or a junction near Fort William) to Mallaig, built as the Mallaig Extension Railway.[10] The West Highland Railway approved the construction of the line at their annual meeting in January 1895.[11]
The line faced potential closure as part of the Beeching cuts in 1963[12] and again in 1995 due to reduced revenues.[13] [14]
Shortly after leaving Glasgow Queen Street station, and beyond Queen Street Tunnel, the line diverges from the main trunk route to and at and follows a northwesterly course through the suburbs of Maryhill and Kelvindale. Between and Dumbarton, the route is shared with the North Clyde Line to before branching northward at Craigendoran Junction towards, the section where the West Highland Line itself is generally accepted to begin. It gives high-level views of the Gare Loch and Loch Long before emerging alongside the northwesterly shores of Loch Lomond, then climbs to .
The branch to Oban diverges at Crianlarich, an important Highland junction of both road and rail, and runs through Glen Lochy to and through the Pass of Brander to reach salt water at and before a final climb over a hill to . About 3miles from Crianlarich, the Mallaig and Oban routes both pass through the village of Tyndrum, but they are served by separate stations, making it the smallest settlement in the UK to be served by more than one railway station.
After, the line to Mallaig climbs onto Rannoch Moor, past the former crossing point at Gorton Crossing to station. In winter, the moor is often covered with snow, and deer may be seen running from the approaching train. The station at 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 1347 ft (410 m) 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 . 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.
Passenger services on the line are operated by ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper. As of May 2021, the service pattern is as follows:
All of the services from Glasgow Queen Street - Mallaig are combined with services to Oban, splitting at Crianlarich. Similarly, two of the return services combine at Crianlarich.[15]
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.
Caledonian Sleeper operates a nightly service from Fort William to London Euston.[16]
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.
As of 2021, there is a single regular freight operation on the line, consisting of alumina services from North Blyth to a smelter near Fort William.[17] [18]
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 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 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, 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 and 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 60round=5NaNround=5 for the Sprinter and 70mph on the approach to Rannoch station. The Caledonian Sleeper travels at 40round=5NaNround=5 maximum, slowing down for a number of bridges on the route due to the heavy weight of the locomotive which hauled the train until the end of the old franchise in April 2015. The operator of the sleeper Serco has replaced these with refurbished electro-diesels since it took over, which have a lighter axle load; it is not yet clear whether the new locomotives will be cleared to run at higher speeds now they are in service.[19]
| Class | Image | Operator | Route | Maximum speed | Builder/Built | In service on the line | Leased from | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| Past rolling stock (from 1980) | |||||||||
| British Rail (Until 1983) BR ScotRail (From 1983) | to / (Until 1989) London Euston to (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 | ||||
| BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 | West Coast Railways | Fort William to Mallaig | 60 | 96 | Horwich Works 1957 | The Jacobite | |||
| LNER Class K4 2-6-0 | Darlington Works 1938 | ||||||||
| Mark 1 Passenger Coach | British Rail (Until 1983) BR ScotRail (From 1983) Royal Scotsman (1985 - 1989) | Glasgow Queen Street to Oban or Mallaig | 100 | 160 | 1951-1963 | 1961-1989 | N/A | ||
| Mark 2 Passenger Coach | Caledonian Sleeper | London Euston to Fort William | 100 | 160 | BREL 1963-1975 | 1964-2019 | It was replaced by the Mark 5 passenger coach. | ||
| Mark 3 Sleeper Coach | Caledonian Sleeper | London Euston to Fort William | 125 | 200 | BREL 1979-1980 | 1980-2019 | It was replaced by the Mark 5 sleeping coach. | ||
| Current fleet | |||||||||
| GB Railfreight | Freight | 75 | 120 | Electro-Motive Diesel 1998-2015 | 2000- | N/A | Class 66/7 | ||
| Belmond Limited | Special Passenger Workings (Royal Scotsman) | GB Railfreight | |||||||
| First ScotRail (Until 2015) Caledonian Sleeper | London Euston to Fort William (Took over from electric loco at Edinburgh) | 125 | 200 | Alstom 1999-2000 | 2006-2016, 2023- | DB Cargo UK | |||
| 90 | 145 | British Railways Eastleigh Works 1962 English Electric 1965-1967 Rebuilt 2014-2016 | 2016- | GB Railfreight | Replaced Class 67 when their lease from DB Cargo UK Expired Class 73/9. | ||||
| ScotRail (2021-present) | Glasgow Queen Street to Oban/Mallaig | 75 | 120 | Leyland Bus 1987-1988 as [20] Converted to Class 153 by Hunslet-Barclay 1991-1992[21] | 2021– | N/A | In service from 19 July | ||
| BR ScotRail (until 1997) National Express (1997-2004) First ScotRail (2005-2015) ScotRail (2015-present) | Metro-Cammell 1987-1989 | 1989– | |||||||
| LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 | West Coast Railways | Fort William to Mallaig | 60 | 96 | Armstrong Whitworth (45212 & 45407) 1935 & 1937Crewe Works (44871) 1945 | - | The Jacobite | ||
| Peppercorn Class K1 | 60 | 96 | North British Locomotive Company 1949-1950 | - | |||||
| Mark 1 Passenger coach | 100 | 160 | Cravens 19511963 | ||||||
| Mark 2 Passenger Coach | 100 | 160 | BREL 1963–1975 | ||||||
| Pullman Mark 3 coach | Belmond Limited | Special Passenger Workings (Royal Scotsman) | 125 | 200 | BREL 1979–1980 | ||||
| Mark 3 Sleeper Coach | Belmond Limited | Special Passenger Workings (Royal Scotsman) | 125 | 200 | BREL 1979–1980 | ||||
| Mark 5 Passenger Coach | Caledonian Sleeper | London Euston to Fort William | 100 | 160 | CAF 2016–2018 | Oct 2019– | Caledonian Sleeper Rail Leasing | It replaced the Mark 2 passenger coach. | |
| Mark 5 Sleeper Coach | It replaced the Mark 3 sleeping coach. | ||||||||
In early 2018 it was widely reported that would be used from Q3-Q4 2018 to replace the Class 156s. However, following investigation it was discovered that the line does not have sufficient gauge clearance for the class. studies were still ongoing.[22]
The two branches of the line are described in detail by John Thomas in his two books (see Sources).
Places served along the route from Glasgow Queen Street are listed below. Sleeper services to Fort William start, however, at London Euston, calling at and Queen Street Low Level (to pick up or set down depending on direction).
| --setting the table width to 73% allows room for standard-size thumbnail images on the right--> | Place | Station | OS reference | Notes< | --setting this column width to 35% allows space for the other columns and forces word wrapping if necessary--> |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow to Crianlarich | |||||
| Glasgow | |||||
| Dalmuir | |||||
| Dumbarton | |||||
| Helensburgh | |||||
| Garelochhead | |||||
| Arrochar and Tarbet | |||||
| Ardlui | Request stop for the Caledonian Sleeper. | ||||
| Crianlarich | At Crianlarich the former West Highland Railway route to Fort William and Mallaig links to the remaining section of the former Callander and Oban Railway to Oban | ||||
| Crianlarich to Oban | |||||
| Tyndrum | |||||
| Dalmally | |||||
| Loch Awe | |||||
| Loch Awe | Used mainly by hikers | ||||
| Taynuilt | |||||
| Connel | |||||
| Oban | |||||
| Crianlarich to Fort William | |||||
| Tyndrum | |||||
| Bridge of Orchy | |||||
| Rannoch | |||||
| Corrour | Request stop for the Caledonian Sleeper | ||||
| Tulloch | |||||
| Roy Bridge | Request stop for the Caledonian Sleeper | ||||
| Spean Bridge | |||||
| Fort William | Services from Glasgow reverse out of Fort William to continue to Mallaig. The Jacobite runs from Fort William to Mallaig. | ||||
| Fort William and Mallaig route | |||||
| Banavie | |||||
| Corpach | |||||
| Loch Eil | |||||
| Loch Eil | Request stop | ||||
| Glenfinnan | |||||
| Lochailort | Request stop | ||||
| Beasdale | Request stop | ||||
| Arisaig | |||||
| Morar | |||||
| Mallaig | Ferries link Mallaig to Armadale, the Isle of Skye, South Uist and the Small Isles | ||||
There is a museum dedicated to the history of the West Highland Line situated at Glenfinnan station.
In the Scottish Government's National Transport Strategy, published in February 2020, it was stated that the line will not be electrified with overhead lines. Instead, an alternative to diesel traction will be found.[25]