Fort William railway station

Fort William railway station is a railway station serving the town of Fort William in the Highland region of Scotland.

Fort William

Scottish Gaelic: An Gearasdan[1]
LocationFort William, Highland
Scotland
Coordinates56.8207°N 5.1047°W / 56.8207; -5.1047
Grid referenceNN105741
Managed byAbellio ScotRail
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeFTW
History
Original companyBritish Rail
Key dates
7 August 1894first station opened
9 June 1975first station closed
13 June 1975Present station opened[2]
Passengers
2015/16 0.140 million
2016/17 0.138 million
2017/18 0.156 million
2018/19 0.160 million
2019/20 0.140 million
 Interchange  377
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History
The original station in 1957
The original station alongside the loch

The first station was opened on 7 August 1894 by the West Highland Railway which was later absorbed by the North British Railway. It was sited further west of the present station on what is now the A82 town by-pass alongside Loch Linnhe at Station Square, at the time in close proximity to then location of the former Caledonian MacBrayne bus station. The old station was a stone built construction featuring a turret and a double arched entranceway and had three platforms. It closed on 9 June 1975 and was demolished immediately afterwards to permit construction of the bypass.[3]

The present Fort William station of grey concrete construction was opened on 13 June 1975.[3] The current station lies in the shadow of Ben Nevis.

The station is on the West Highland Line and the starting point for The Jacobite, a steam locomotive hauled passenger service to Mallaig.

Refurbishment of the facilities at Fort William railway station was completed in 2007 thanks to a £750,000 investment.[4] The refurbishment includes new shower facilities and refurbished toilets. The shower facilities include two showers for ladies, two for gentlemen and one unisex shower facility for disabled people.

Services
The Caledonian Sleeper (left) and a First ScotRail Glasgow to Mallaig service

As of the summer 2019 timetable, Fort William has three daytime trains per day in each direction on Mondays to Saturdays, running between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig. There is also a daily early morning service to Mallaig that starts at Fort William, with a similar return service in the evening (this connects into/out of the Caledonian Sleeper). The Caledonian Sleeper operates six nights per week (not Saturdays) from London Euston, starting/terminating at Fort William. The sleeper also carries seated coaches and can thus be used as a regular service train to/from Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley.[5]

The regular Sunday service consists of two train per day each way between Glasgow and Mallaig, with the schedule in the peak season supplemented by one service between Fort William and Mallaig.[6]

The Jacobite operates between Fort William and Mallaig, only stopping at Glenfinnan. This runs through the summer until late October, with a maximum of two trains per day Monday to Saturday and one on Sunday in the high season. A reduced Jacobite timetable is operated later in the summer.[6]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Spean Bridge   Abellio ScotRail
West Highland Line		   Banavie
Terminus    
Spean Bridge   Caledonian Sleeper
Highland Caledonian Sleeper		   Terminus
Glenfinnan   West Coast Railways
The Jacobite
May–October		   Terminus
  Historical railways  
Spean Bridge
Line and station open		   North British Railway
West Highland Railway
   Banavie Pier
Line mostly open; station closed
Terminus   North British Railway
West Highland Railway
  
Banavie
Line and station open		   North British Railway
Mallaig Extension Railway of West Highland Railway
   Terminus

Signalling

Since its opening in 1975, the present Fort William station has been equipped with colour light signals. The signalling is controlled from an 'NX' (entrance-exit) panel in Fort William Junction signal box. The single line between the junction and the station is worked by the Track Circuit Block system, so no tokens are needed for that part of the route.

See also

References

Notes
  1. Brailsford 2017, Gaelic/English Station Index.
  2. Butt 1995.
  3. Fort William re-sited The Railway Magazine issue 892 August 1975 page 377
  4. "Full steam ahead for new transport hub". Lochaber News. 20 October 2007. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  5. Table 227 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  6. "West Highland timetable" (PDF). ScotRail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.

Sources
  • Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • "West Highland Railway". RAILSCOT. 2 April 2012.
  • "Mallaig Extension Railway". RAILSCOT. 24 March 2012.
  • "schotland 2006". treintjes.info (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 5 February 2012.

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