Fort William railway station

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Fort William
An Gearasdan
Location
Place	Fort William
Local authority	Highland
Operations
Managed by	First ScotRail
Platforms in use	2
Annual Passenger Usage
2004/05 **	114,211
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Fort William.   * 2002/03 Disclaimer  ** 2004/05 Disclaimer
UK Rail Portal

The platforms at Fort William, viewed from the doorway to the concourse area in June 2005

Fort William railway station is a railway station serving the town of Fort William in the Highland region of Scotland. This station is on the West Highland Line and the starting point for The Jacobite, the only scheduled steam hauled train to run on the mainline in Great Britain.

This station lies in the shadow of Ben Nevis. The present station buildings are an unattractive 1970s grey concrete construction.

[edit] Services

The Caledonian Sleeper starts and terminates here. It runs Monday to Friday and Sunday. London bound trains depart Fort William at 19:55, arriving into Preston at 04:28 (M-Th), Crewe at 05:29 and London Euston at 07:43. In the opposite direction trains depart Euston at 21:15, arriving into Fort William at 09:43

As part of the West Highland Line, the station sees 6 trains in each direction per day, being 4 standard trains, The Jacobite and the Caledonian Sleeper. Of the standard Scotrail trains, 3 a day run from Glasgow via Fort William and on to Mallaig, with one running just from Fort William to Mallaig, timed to connect with the Caledonian Sleeper. The Jacobite runs from Fort William to Mallaig during the summer months, only stopping at Glenfinnan and Arisaig. Finally, the Caledonian Sleeper arrives early-morning from London via Edinburgh, and leaves early-evening along the same route.

[edit] History

The present Fort William station opened on 13 June 1975. It replaced the original terminus which was further west and alongside Loch Linnhe at Station Square, in close proximity to Macbraynes Bus Station and Pier. The old station, was a stone built construction featuring a turret and a double arched entranceway. The station had three platforms, and was demolished to make way for a new road.

[edit] 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 Mallaig Junction signal box (now named 'Fort William Junction'). 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.

[edit] External links

• Photographs of a steam train at the station

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