Highland Main Line

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Routemap The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the central Scottish Highlands, mainly following the route of the A9, and linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edinburgh, Glasgow and London use the line. At Inverness the line connects with the Far North Line, the Aberdeen-Inverness Line and the Kyle of Lochalsh Line.

Much of the Highland Main Line is single track, and trains coming in opposite directions are often timed to arrive at stations at the same time, where crossing loops permit them to pass. Journey times between Inverness and Edinburgh or Glasgow are approximately three and a half hours.

History

File:01roadandrail 20000900.jpg

Highland Main Line and A9 next to each other in Perthshire, September 2000

File:Dalguise viaduct (geograph 3418380).jpg

The line crosses the Dalguise Viaduct

The vast majority of the line was built and operated by the Highland Railway, with a small section of the line between Perth and Stanley built by the Scottish Midland Junction Railway, amalgamated with the Aberdeen Railway to become the Scottish North Eastern Railway in 1856, and then absorbed by the Caledonian Railway in 1866, which itself amalgamated with the Highland Railway and several others to create the LMS at the grouping in 1923. Originally, the line between Inverness and Perth went via Forres, but the Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway was opened in 1898 to allow for a more direct routeing.

File:158703 at Drumochter Pass.jpg

158703 heads south through the Drumochter Pass in the snow (1995)

There are two significant summits on the line: Drumochter Summit (also spelled Druimuachdar) (elevation ) between Blair Atholl and Dalwhinnie, and Slochd Summit (elevation ) between Carrbridge and Inverness. Other distinct features on the route include the viaducts at Culloden and Tomatin, the spectacular mountain pass at Drumochter and the severe gradients encountered in both directions, particularly the extended climb from Inverness to the Slochd summit which averages around 1 in 60 the whole way.

Initially the only double track was between Inverness and Daviot and also Stanley Junction and Perth. In the 1890s the single line working was improved with the replacement of telegraphing orders to trains along the line with staff and tablet control instruments. This was later upgraded to automatic token-exchange apparatus. However, the main improvement came with the doubling of sections of line, designed by the engineer Alexander Newlands, beginning with Blair Atholl to Dalnacardoch () in 1900, extended to Druimuachdar () in 1901 and Dalwhinnie () in 1909. In the 1960s, many sections of the line were converted from double track to single track. In 1976, from Blair Atholl to Dalwhinnie was redoubled. In March 2019 Network Rail completed a programme of works to increase capacity on the line and support the introduction of InterCity 125 sets on ScotRail services, with passing loops and platforms extended.

Stations and services

As of 2020, there are stations on the line as follows:

Places served	All trains stop?	Ordnance Survey grid reference	Notes
Perth	Yes
Dunkeld and Birnam	No		Shared station
Pitlochry	Yes
Blair Atholl	No
Dalwhinnie	No
Newtonmore	No
Kingussie	Yes
Aviemore	Yes		Connection with Strathspey Railway
Carrbridge	No
Inverness	Yes

Services on the line are provided by ScotRail and London North Eastern Railway. A roughly two-hourly ScotRail service operates between Perth and Inverness throughout the day. On weekdays and Saturdays, there are 11 services in total in each direction, all running from/to either Glasgow Queen Street (via Stirling) or Edinburgh Waverley. The London North Eastern Railway service is entitled the Highland Chieftain; it departs Inverness at 08:00 and runs to London King's Cross via the East Coast Main Line, arriving in London at 16:00. The return working leaves London at 12:00 and reaches Inverness at 20:00. On Sundays there are 7 trains each way. The journey time between Perth and Inverness takes between 2 hours and 2 hours and 20 minutes, depending on the calling pattern and if the train is booked to be looped at any passing places.

The Caledonian Sleeper travels overnight between Inverness and London Euston via the West Coast Main Line. The southbound train joins portions from Aberdeen and Fort William at Edinburgh Waverley, and similarly the northbound train divides there. South of Edinburgh, it forms the longest locomotive-hauled passenger train in the United Kingdom, with 16 coaches.

All trains between Perth and Inverness call at Pitlochry, Kingussie and Aviemore. Most ScotRail services call at Dunkeld & Birnam (9 north and 10 south) and at Blair Atholl (8 north and 6 south), with the stations at Dalwhinnie (5 each way), Newtonmore (6 each way) and Carrbridge (6 each way) being served less often. On Sundays, a couple of services continue through to Elgin, calling at Nairn and Forres.

Rolling stock

Class	Image	Type	Operator	Route	Maximum Speed		Builder/ built	In service on the line	Leased from	Other notes
					mph	km/h
43	File:43134 and 43148 at Pitlochry.jpg	Diesel locomotive	ScotRail	Glasgow/Edinburgh to Inverness	125	200	BREL Crewe Works 1975–1982	2018–	Angel Trains	Operates under the brand Inter7City. Fleet consists of 9 four-coach and 17 five-coach trains. 1 four coach train damaged in the Stonehaven derailment.
Mark 3	File:ScotRailMk3.jpg	Passenger carriage					BREL Derby Litchurch Lane Works 1979–1980
67	File:67028 at Doncaster 220623 (52993632609).jpg	Diesel locomotive	Caledonian Sleeper	London Euston to Inverness (Takes over from electric loco at Edinburgh)			Alstom Valencia 1999–2000	2023–	DB Cargo UK	Replaced Class 73/9 when their lease from DB Cargo UK Expired.
Mark 5 Passenger Coach	File:CAF mk5 sleeper coach.jpg	Lounge car Seated Sleeper Sleeping car		London Euston to Inverness	100	161	CAF Beasain 2016–2018	2019–	Caledonian Sleeper Rail Leasing	Replaced the Mark 2s
Mark 5 Sleeper Coach										Replaced the Mark 3s
158/0 Express Sprinter	File:158731 passes Dalwhinnie 180624 (53800613215).jpg	DMU	ScotRail	Glasgow/Edinburgh to Inverness	90	145	BREL Derby Litchurch Lane Works 1989–1992	1990–	Porterbrook
170/3 & 170/4 Turbostar	File:170396 at Inverkeithing, 08 May 2013.JPG				100	161	AdTranz/Bombardier Transportation Derby Litchurch lane Works 1998-2005	1999–
	File:170430 departs Aviemore 170624 (53797870821).jpg
Class 800 Azuma	File:800110 Kingussie LC 300724.jpg	Bi-mode multiple unit	London North Eastern Railway	London King's Cross/Edinburgh to Inverness	125	200	Hitachi Newton Aycliffe 2014–2018	2019–	Agility Trains	Service is titled the Highland Chieftain. Fleet consists of 10 five-coach and 13 nine-coach trains.

Usage

Station usage at some stations remain stable. Overall usage on the line comparing April 2003 to April 2010 has increased 154%.

Future

In the Scottish Government's National Transport Strategy, published in February 2020, it was stated that the line would be electrified with overhead lines by 2035.

External links

• Route on OpenStreetMap
• Highland Main Line on Transport Scotland
• Highland Mainline Community Rail Partnership