ScotRail Franchise Termination

The Scottish Government announced in December 2019 that the current operator of Scotland’s Railway is to have its contract ceased by early 2022. The Friends of the West Highland Lines are committed to promotion and protection of the lines serving the West Highlands and are well aware and disappointed that…

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Renewing Scotland’s Railways

‘Renewing Britain’s Railways: Scotland’ is a new book released by Amberley Publishing as a retrospective of the Scottish network during the last few years. Written by FWHL member Gordon Webster, it includes a comprehensive chapter about the West Highland and Oban lines. It includes 150 colour images in sharp, high…

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Severe Flooding Closes the West Highland Lines

This unusual view of a 156 DMU ‘parked in a Crianlarich siding is assumed to be a consequence of the severe flood damage to the line on 4th August 2019 when the area was the victim of severe thunderstorms. Parts of the track bed were washed away between Ardlui and…

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THE WEST HIGHLAND LINE – a GERMAN TV FILM

An excellent film of the line from Glasgow Queen Street to Fort William & Mallaig. The presentation features the line, places, activities and personalities along the route and is a great advert for the line. The dialogue is in German without subtitles but this does not detract from the enjoyable…

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Class 153 Update

Published 26/11/2018. Recent information has been released by Transport Scotland outlining thoughts on how to ‘kit-out’ the proposed Class 153 single carriage units for the transport of Cycle, Ski and other outdoor sports equipment on Scotland’ scenic railway routes. The proposal is to add the 153 carriage to the current…

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