From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kyle of Lochalsh Line is a railway line in the Scottish Highlands, running from Dingwall to Kyle of Lochalsh. The population along the route is very sparse, but the scenery is certainly very beautiful, and many of the passengers on the trains are tourists. All trains run to Inverness, running along the Far North Line from Dingwall to Inverness. Services are provided by First ScotRail.
[edit] History
The initial aim was to connect Skye to Inverness. Although Inverness was Skye's county town at the time, it was easier to get there via Glasgow. The line opened in 1870, but with its terminus at Stromeferry. Boats provided onward connection to Skye and the Outer Hebrides. The logical route for the line would taken it through Strathpeffer, a spa town, and one of the few centres of population, but disagreements with landowners meant that it bypassed the town, until 1885 when a branch line was opened. The branch closed in 1951, and the absence of revenue from the town for the Kyle line has often been noted. In 1895 the line was extended to Kyle, through some unforgiving terrain; almost all of the extension is in rock cuttings or embankments. At the time it was the most expensive railway ever built in the UK per mile, and much money was provided by the government.
The line never gained much traffic: connections with the ferries were often unreliable; much freight traffic was stolen by the West Highland Main Line upon its opening. Original ideas, including such ideas as moving fishing boats by rail across Scotland to avoid navigating around, never came to fruition. The line avoided the Beeching Axe due to social necessity, but throughout the 1970s it was variously threatened with closure, but won a reprieve until the Caledonian MacBrayne service to Lewis was moved from Kyle to Ullapool. It was eventually saved in connection with supplying goods for oil platform fabrication at the nearby Kishorn Yard. In 1989 the bridge over the River Ness was washed away, leaving both it and the Far North Line stranded, but new "Sprinter" trains were brought over by road, and a temporary yard was built to service them at Muir of Ord. The section of line along Loch Carron is particularly troublesome, and prone to landslides, often closing that section.
[edit] External links
| Main lines: |
East Coast - West Coast - Ayrshire Coast - Glasgow-Edinburgh (via Carstairs) - Glasgow-Edinburgh (via Falkirk) - Edinburgh-Aberdeen - Glasgow South Western - Highland |
|
Glasgow commuter
lines: |
█ Argyle - █ Ayrshire Coast - █ Cathcart Circle - █ Croy - █ Cumbernauld - █ Inverclyde - █ Maryhill - █ Motherwell-Cumbernauld - █ North Clyde - █ Paisley Canal - █ Shotts - █ South Western - █ Whifflet |
|
Edinburgh commuter
lines: |
█ Bathgate - █ Crossrail - █ Dunblane - █ Fife Circle - █ North Berwick - █ Shotts |
|
| Rural lines: |
Aberdeen-Inverness - Far North - Kyle of Lochalsh - Tay Coast - West Highland |
|
| Future lines: |
Waverley - Airdrie to Bathgate - Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Rail Link - Edinburgh Airport Rail Link - Glasgow Airport Rail Link - Glasgow Crossrail - Aberdeen Crossrail |
|
| Historical Scottish Railway Companies: |
Aberdeen Railway - Alloa Railway - Arbroath and Forfar - Ardrossan Railway - Annbank to Cronberry - Ayr and Dalmellington - Ayr to Mauchline - Ayrshire and Wigtownshire - Ballochney - Bathgate and Coatbridge - Brechin and Edzell District - Bridge of Weir Railway - Busby Railway - Caledonian Railway - Caledonian and Dunbartonshire Junction - Callander and Oban - Cathcart District - City Union - Clydesdale Junction - Crieff & Methven - Crieff Junction - Crieff and Comrie - Darvel Branch - Denburn Valley Line - Duke of Sutherland - Dunblane, Doune & Callander - Dundee and Arbroath - Dundee and Perth - Formartine and Buchan - Edinburgh and Dalkeith - Edinburgh and Glasgow - Edinburgh and Hawick - Edinburgh Suburban and Southside Junction - Forfar and Brechin - General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour - Girvan and Portpatrick Junction - Glasgow and Garnkirk - Glasgow and Paisley Joint - Glasgow and Renfrew District - Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint - Glasgow Central Railway - Glasgow City and District - Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh - Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle - Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr - Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock - Glasgow, Yoker and Clydebank - Great North of Scotland - Greenock and Ayrshire - Greenock and Wemyss Bay - Invergarry and Fort Augustus - Inverness and Aberdeen Junction - Inverness and Nairn - Inverness and Ross-shire - Kilbarchan Loop - Killin Railway - Kilmarnock and Troon - Kincardine Line - Lanarkshire and Ayrshire - Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire - Leadhills and Wanlockhead - Lochearnhead, St Fillans and Comrie - Maidens and Dunure - Mallaig Extension - Monkland and Kirkintilloch - Morayshire Railway - North British, Arbroath and Montrose - Paisley and Barrhead District - Paisley and Renfrew - Perth, Almond Valley & Methven - Polloc and Govan - Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint - Rutherglen and Coatbridge - Slamannan - Scottish Central Railway - Scottish Midland Junction - Stirling and Dunfermline - Sutherland and Caithness - Sutherland Railway - West Highland Railway - Wick and Lybster - Wilsontown, Morningside and Coltness - Wishaw and Coltness Railway |
