West Highland Line

In the mid-19th century, a frenzy of railway expansion reached all the cities of Scotland, even Inverness, but the northwest remained blank on the map. As the easy-to-build, profitable lowland railways were completed, increasingly hare-brained proposals were put forward for outlying routes — one for the West Highlands reckoned trains could be sucked over the hills, with an almighty thhhhhwurp! to out-do the sucking of the bogs they crossed. Eventually from 1866 a line was built in fits and starts from the existing network near Stirling via Callander, Killin and Crianlarich, with a complete route to Oban by 1880.

Much more difficult terrain lay north, and much poorer prospects for either passenger or freight revenue. The ground was either too soft or too rock-hard, and there was no locally-available labour or materials. Costs were higher and investors (already burnt) were wary. A further obstacle was existing railway companies, who squealed at anything that might threaten their local monopolies. What changed government thinking was rural poverty sparking civil unrest in the Highlands, as it had in Ireland. So funding and legal assent were obtained, ground was broken in 1889 on what would become the West Highland Railway, and it reached Fort William in 1894, extending to Mallaig in 1901. At Crianlarich it crossed the Callander-Oban line, with the minimum of cooperation between the two routes until the Beeching cuts of 1965 — then the Callander-Crianlarich section was abandoned and the Glasgow-Oban route became a branch of the West Highland line.

See also: Rail travel in Great Britain

The train is the easy bit. Timetables, fares and discounts are described on the National Rail website, which directs you to the multiple train operators to buy your ticket. Scotrail operates the regular day-time train but you can buy from any, including for connecting journeys from England to Glasgow. Reservations are essential for the sleeper from London (the booking horizon is 12 months), and recommended for day-time trains in July, August and around public holidays. The rail service connects with several Hebridean ferries and gets busy at peak times, and you don't want to be standing in the corridor all that way. Off-peak there's no problem buying tickets for immediate travel, but advance returns are generally a better deal. These may tie you to specific trains but this is not the sort of route you hop-on, hop-off on a whim.

You need accommodation, probably both in Glasgow and at your intended terminus. Glasgow itself is a great destination that deserves a few days to explore. It gets chock-a-bloc in August during the Edinburgh Festival, as everywhere within an hour's travel of that city is booked solid.

What do you intend to do at the north end? If it's just a stroll on the promenade and purchase of a souvenir tea-towel, preparation is simple. More is involved for water activities or mountain hikes, where you have to factor in changes in the weather and the logistics around train times. At any rate be better prepared than Sir Robert MacAlpine (1847-1934), founder of the construction firm, who set off with six colleagues to survey the intended route over Rannoch Moor. On a bleak January day in 1889, facing a 70-km hike over trackless bog, they were dressed as if sauntering down the street to the bank on a mild morning in May. Two days later they were rescued; it's a miracle they all survived. Their ordeal did some good as further evidence of the need for a railway.

Glasgow is the start of the West Highland Line, and the usual springboard for exploring it. The city has good air connections across Europe and within the UK, and trains and buses from London and all over Scotland; it has never been a ferry or liner port. There's lots to see and do here, and plenty of places to eat, drink and sleep.

Glasgow Central is the arrival terminus for trains from London Euston, Birmingham and Manchester, via Preston and Carlisle; the fastest trains from Euston run hourly and take 4 hours 30 min. Some trains from London Kings Cross via Newcastle and Edinburgh terminate here, but it's quicker to change in Edinburgh. Trains from southwest Scotland also run here, from Lanark, Motherwell, Dumfries, Kilmarnock, Stranraer (for Belfast ferry), Ayr, Prestwick Airport, Ardrossan (for Arran ferry), Largs, Troon, Wemyss Bay (for Bute ferry), Greenock and Gourock (for Dunoon ferry).

Central station is 500 m southwest of Queen Street station. It's simplest to walk, unless the weather is foul or you're laden with luggage or sprogs. Bus 398 is free if you show an onward rail ticket. Don't use the Underground, it's just as far to walk.

Buchanan Street bus station is 100 m west of Queen Street and has buses from London, Belfast, just about everywhere in Scotland, and from the main airport (GLA ^IATA).

Glasgow Queen Street is the start for trains along the West Highland line. It has fast trains from Edinburgh via Falkirk, so this is your usual arrival point from London Kings Cross, Leeds, York, or Newcastle, changing at Edinburgh. (Slower trains from Edinburgh, including through-trains from England, trundle across the industrial central belt to Glasgow Central.) Services from Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Stirling also terminate at Queen Street. Saturdays it's thronged with football fans and drunks, but few of these are taking the West Highland train.

Scotrail trains are the principal service, running the length of the route six times M-Sa and thrice on Sunday. The first departs shortly after 05:00 and the last towards 18:30. These are composed of two-coach diesel (Class 156 Sprinter) units, and they start from Queen Street with two or three units, a four- or six-coach train which divides at Crianlarich. The front two or four carriages turn west to Oban while the rear unit of two carriages continues north to Fort William and Mallaig. There is a corridor between units.

The Caledonian Highland Sleeper runs F-Su from London Euston to Fort William, booking essential. It departs after 21:00 and runs northwest via Preston to reach Edinburgh in the early hours, where portions detach for Aberdeen and for Inverness. Passengers in the seating saloon without a sleeper bunk must change coaches here, but you can't use this train for Edinburgh or Glasgow - instead take the Lowland Sleeper which leaves Euston towards midnight. The Fort William portion rumbles across the central belt and through Glasgow to join the West Highland route approaching Dumbarton some time after 06:00, and from here on can be used as a day train. It stops at all stations on the way including Crianlarich but has no portion (or sensible connection) for Oban, as the first Scotrail train of the day is 20 minutes ahead of it. It reaches Fort William at 10:00; the return south departs towards 20:00 to reach Euston for 08:00.

As of April 2024, The Jacobite steam train has been cancelled until further notice due to a dispute with the safety regulator over the fitting of door locks.

The full route from Glasgow takes 5½ hours to Mallaig or 3 hours to Oban, diverging at Crianlarich.

Between Oban and Mallaig takes about 5 hours, with a 30 minute wait at Crianlarich.

• Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, full of interesting architecture, museums and culture. Edinburgh is only a hour away.
• Oban has ferries to the islands of Mull, Lismore, Colonsay, Islay, Coll, Tiree, Barra and South Uist.
• Fort William is a great base for hiking, at the foot of Britain's highest mountain Ben Nevis. A long distance path passes Loch Ness to reach Inverness.
• Mallaig has ferries to Armadale on Skye, the Small Isles, and the Knoydart Peninsula.