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UK Train Travel: West Highland Line Scotland Full Guide · UK Travel Planning

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the train journey is part of the adventure.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: This week Doug and I explore the West Highland Line north from Glasgow to Auburn and Malik with everything you need to know to plan the journey yourself.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: But about trains then.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I have a nice thing to tell you actually, because somebody in our Facebook group left a note to say that they've just started discovered the podcast and they're particularly enjoying your train podcast episode.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really nice.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: So you get a treat I thought I'd let you know, because you haven't been very well for the last few weeks.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: So a bit of a bit of a um a pick-me-up from somebody lovely who left that comment.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Very nice, thank you.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, let's get back to the topic of this episode, which is the West Haaland line.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: So um we've been lucky enough to have done that line quite a few times.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Many, many times over many years.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we thought, and I know it's a it's a line that we get asked about quite often and get lots of questions about in the Facebook group and by email.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we thought the best way to do it was to talk about um how to do it, where it is, all the kind of basic information you need to know, some of the amazing sights that you can see along the way, and why it is really one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely is.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of gets mentions and in lists, doesn't it?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: But actually, it deserves it.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean it's if you ever do the line, it's easy to understand why it gets mentioned in those terms.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so before we set off, if this episode has you thinking about seeing more of Britain by train, which we really hope it does, Doug wrote the guide to UK train travel for exactly that to help you with that.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it's got information about tickets, passes, rail cards, reservations, step-by-step information.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, and some itineraries as well.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: And some I was just about to say that plus 12 complete UK train itineries.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: You can live basically straight and put them into your own trip.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it saves you the hassle of trying to design it yourself because we've done all the all the hard work and put those itineraries together for you.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you can find the link in the show notes if you want to have a look at Doug's guide to UK train travel.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so let's get into the episode.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I know Doug's very excited to talk about the West Island main line.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we took lots of video when we were there the last trip in June.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like just June this year.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: In June, and um you took lots of videos.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully soon-ish, there's gonna be a video um which will show all of the line um that we managed to get video of.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, because we had a few rainy days, didn't we?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, part of it got a bit uh bit wet, but it doesn't very it doesn't dampen the the whole experience.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's still beautiful, and uh so they'll be coming to our YouTube channel, UK travel planning, very soon.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so let's find out like the basics, basic, basics.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, Doug, for someone looking at a map of Britain, yeah, where does the line actually go?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Where is the West Highland line?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you look at a map of the UK, you've got obviously England, and then above that, you've got Scotland, and then you've got Edinburgh on to the right hand side, and then to the left of that, you've got Glasgow, and then heading north out of there, you've got the coast west coast of Scotland, and that's the Highlands.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So this train line heads north out of Glasgow from the Queen Street station, because there's more than one station, and you're heading up towards Fort William, Malik, or Oban.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was gonna ask you that because actually it's the West Haaland line, yeah, but it actually has two different ends.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it does.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So Yeah, that's that's true, because you head out of Glasgow, Queen Street, in on the one direction, and then at a place called Crane Larry.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Apologies if my pronunciation is not particularly great because I'm not Scottish.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so the the train splits or divides at Crane Larrick, so part of it goes west towards Oban for a terminus station there, and then other part of the train heads further north up towards Fort William, and then from Fort William, the branch heads straight through to Malig.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Now, uh the main kind of I guess the longest part of that route is that Glasgow to Malig route, and that takes five hours.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it's only you've only gone 164 miles.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: So is there a reason why it's so slow?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, I guess part of the point is that you want it to go slow because it's so beautiful.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's right.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's just over five hours from Glasgow, Queen Street to Malig, and it's just over three hours from Glasgow, Queen Street to Oban.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: The part of the reason is there's more than one reason.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: One is the there's lots of curves, there's lots of gradients on that line as well, but also some of the trains used on there.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: The maximum speed, I think, is about 70 miles an hour.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh actually only 60, I think, over Rannock more.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, so there's more than one factor responsible for that.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, perfect.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about the first part of the route.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So the first part of the route from Glasgow, Queen Street to Cranlaric, again, apologies for my pronunciation.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, everybody does that.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Depends, it doesn't matter if you're going to Oban or if you're going to Fort William and Malik, everybody does that first part of the route.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: First part of the journey.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: So that first part of the journey.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: So talk us through a little bit of so what can you expect on that part of the route?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: So for the first part, very first 45 minutes-ish, don't don't hold me to that.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: But that's more or less the commuter belt into Glasgow or even a further afield up to uh towards Edinburgh.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, you've got your sort of um residential areas, and you know, it's still still nice, but then you start opening up as you head towards the Loch Lomond and the Crossecks uh National Parks.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: So really you get towards uh um Outboat and Tarbitz station, and yeah, you start getting some nice scenery, and you start opening up onto the loch, and yeah, it's gorgeous.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: So is that uh Loch Lomond that you see there?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and um you could actually get off and take one of the boat trips across the loch, could you?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can during the nice months.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, you may consider just getting off there and breaking your journey up, but you have to remember how a few trains there is a day on this line.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess the nice part of that is when you get out of that kind of commuter belt in Glasgow, and then you get out and start seeing the scenery and the locks and the mountains and you know the national park.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you feel like you're really getting into experience Scotland, don't you?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: That that's right, you do feel that sort of sea change, if you like, um, from sort of residential up towards the scenery start, but it's a gradual start, you know.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: You start seeing a little bit of the lock, and then you start seeing a few hills, and then you you think, oh, actually.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: You start looking around, you go, this is beautiful already.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: But the the thing is, you you get that beauty, and then it gets better, then it gets better, and then it gets better and better and better, in my opinion.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, I think a lot of people will agree, including myself.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, so you you've gone to Glasgow, Queen Street, and then you've got to Crean Loric.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess there's um an option at that point to get off the train and go to Oban or get off the train and go to depends where you've got your tickets.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, where you go because they'll be checking your tickets uh on board as well, and just to make sure you're in the right portion of the train as well, and things like that.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, there's no need to worry about it.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: You think, oh, am I in the right part?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's plenty of announcements and there's ticket checks.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: There's plenty of time when they get to Crane Larry as well.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't stress about it, don't worry about it.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, so let's imagine on this one we're we're gonna talk about Oban, the the train line to Oban, that part of the West Southland main line in a second.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we're gonna talk about the train now from Kleinlark up to Fort William.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now that is my personal favourite part of the of the whole train journey, yeah.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it is stunning.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about some of the highlights along that route.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, yes.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: I know there's quite a few.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: There is, I mean, where where to start?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got sort of uh bridge of Ockey, um, you've got both sides of the train, you can see good views from that.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and as you pass through Rannickmore itself, which is was built on like a floated bed.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because Ranickmore is is that peat bog?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a peat bogs, yeah.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I I have to say it, I'm gonna interject, but I I can still remember the first time that I saw Rannickmore, and actually that was on the Caledonian sleeper, and waking up in the morning and getting out and and walking down the the kind of corridor in the train, and Rannickmore was just the most mystical place I've ever seen.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was icy and there was kind of fog and it all of the little bits of water they had frozen over, so it was icy, it was just magical.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: I absolutely that was in January when we did that trip.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's fantastic, it was absolutely fantastic.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it is beautiful scenery, isn't it?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: It is, and that proves the point that you know, whatever time of year you're going, there's something a little bit different, a little bit you know, unique to that month or that time of year, whether it's the scenery, whether it's the the cloud, the lighting, there's something special.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's true, because you if you say January, people think, oh, I don't want to head up to Scotland, January, because it's darker and it's colder, and but it was just so beautiful.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: But it that's that beauty of uh Caledonian sleeper, you you know, catching up from London, you get you know, it's the old falling asleep in one place and waking up in somewhere else, and you go, oh wow.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was amazing.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Now, also on that line is a very famous train station, and that's Corore.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Caror, yeah, which is the highest mainline station uh in the UK.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I've actually I just caught it on video, the sign there uh this year.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: All the many times I've actually visited, I've just actually filmed it at the exact right moment, which was really nice.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, fantastic! And and that train station you can't reach by road.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, that's right, that's right.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's lots of walkers use these stations, and that that's the whole idea.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's lots of places up and down the line where truthfully you probably only get off if you actually walk it away from that station because if you get off the train there, there's not many other things you can do without transport.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: So there's lots of walkers um locations you'll see walkers getting on and getting off.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you can say that you've been at the highest rover station in the UK if you get off.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: I've been to the highest one in England as well.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's true, absolutely intent.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: So when you approach Fort William on that line, uh what should you look out for?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, uh if you sit on the right hand side of the train, you've actually got good views of Ben Nevis.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're on the left hand side of the train, well, you can explain that one.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: On the left-hand side of the train?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the left-hand side of the train, you've got sort of Pajov Rocky, you've got the viewpoints of the whole moors areas.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, right.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: I was kind of just I had I was fixated on Ben Nevis then, so I was kind of like thinking, I would probably be looking on the right-hand side looking at Ben Nevis.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, there is that.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's so many places up and down the line.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: You've got the sort of cobbler further down um the line.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, don't get too hung up on all the specific little places because you'll be spending your time looking down at a at a map or a book or a list.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoy the scenery on both sides of the train.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Again, don't get too hung up.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Doug says sit on the left-hand side or the right hand side.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you know, you can aim to do that, but you know, you've got to if you it's a busy time of the year and you've reserved seats, you're not always going to be in, you know, necessarily get the seat that you want.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: What I always say is I did the same when I did the Kyle line from Inverness to the Carlo culture the same month.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is you know, if it's important, uh sit on one side on the way up and sit on the other side on the way back.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's a good point.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's absolutely good.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think don't get too hung up on it because it is beautiful on both sides.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: It is, it is absolutely beautiful.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: We will talk a little bit later about the side of the chain you'd recommend, but you're absolutely right.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: As you say, go up one side, come down the other, um, and then you get to see everything.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you do tend to be kind of good like this.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a bit and if you you know, one of the beauties of going on in the quieter time of the year is you'll do at what you'll end up doing, you'll see others doing it as well.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: You'll you'll sit in one seat, and then you see on the other side of the train something nice come up, and you'll switch sides.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's you'll see people doing it all the time and the quieter months, you know.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: So there's merits for all times of the year.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, that mountain that that hot lock is still going to be there in winter that is there in summer.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's true.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: Now you get to Fort William, and then the next part of the trip, which I guess is the really famous one for reasons uh to do with the boy wizard.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the this part of the line was an extension, actually, it was built in 1901 from Fort William to to Malik.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: So talk a little bit about that part of the line.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that part of the line is pretty special, and anybody who as you say mentioned Harry Potter, they'll know about the uh famous um Glenfinum Viaduct, which is the sweeping left-hand uh viaduct as you leave in uh outside Fort William.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, the left-hand side is good for that.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: But that entire branch line is by the side of the loch, you've got uh Glenfinum Monument, not just the Viaduct, and that's at right at the end of um Loch Shield, um, which is stunning beautiful again all year round, and then you've got Loch is it, Loch Isle?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Apologies for my pronunciation as well, and you you know you follow that all up towards the uh Arisagan.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then you've got the beautiful sands, you've got views, potential views of some of the islands as well.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, which you know, if you're you're lucky enough to be able to see uh you know over to some of the beautiful islands, um then woman, egg and yeah, yeah, uh sky, rum, egg, yeah, all of those muck as well, and obviously lovely sunsets along that way, and just the white beaches along that line are absolutely beautiful.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, now I guess the question that we do get is about if if you're going from Glasgow Queen Sea, you get all the way to Malik.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it's taking you five hours to do that, right?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: About five hours to do that.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is it worth staying in Malik or is it worth turning round?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now we've stayed in it, Malik, a few times.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: We have stayed in Malik a few times, and have also actually just turned around and come back on that very next train as well.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: But trained people like me tend to do that sort of thing.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we did that in June, to be fair, yeah.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: We did.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: We had a couple of hours there, so there's things to do there, but it's more of a gateway to Sky in a lot of ways.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, and we've actually done that before when we've been driving over, we've taken a car up and we've we've stayed in in uh Malik overnight and then taken the ferry the next day over onto the onto Sky.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: So um I don't know, it's up to you if if it's about the train journey, then just do the train journey up, the train journey back.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um I mean there's the walks, there's a circular walk around Malik as well to explore some of those beautiful um beaches at obviously sunset as well.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so yeah, there's merits to doing.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Good seafood as well, if you're into your seafood.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's that part of the line, and we're gonna talk a little bit later about some of the other trains that you can get on that line because we know you're probably all thinking, Jacobite, what about the Jacobite?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about the Jacobite.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: We will be in a second, but I just want to kind of turn attention back to that oburn branch.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: So we're back to Crenlaric, and so instead of going on to Fort William and onto Oban, we've actually kind of gone left, as it were, and we're gone to Oban.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: So talk a little bit about that.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so as the train leaves, the trains are split, and you're on the right section of the train now.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Is you go leave Cren Larrick and then you head through uh Lower Tyndrum or Tindrum because that's um there's Upper Tindrum, which is the other part of Tyndrum, which is on the line from Cren Larry, is heading up towards Fort Williams.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: So you go through Lower Tindrum station and you've got some beautiful scenery on that way there as well.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: You've got Kilcher and Castle, if you could get brief enough to actually see that as well, but you follow the lock as well.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: So the overall journey from Queen Street to uh Oban in just over three hours.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess and that's pretty, and I remember doing that exactly.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to see the castle, you've got to be quick.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: I was trying to get it on video.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Both times I was trying to get it on video, and it was quite it was kind of gone.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Nice to use the locker as well.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, sometimes you just want to sit back and enjoy the views anyway.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's just we have to take videos, but yeah, yeah.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um so Oban, the question I get we get asked a lot about Oban.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: So Auburn um for me really is the gateway to the aisle.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I tend to stay in Oban and I stayed in Oban twice this year, actually, is because I was heading over to the Isle.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I went Not something I do very often.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, Doug's not uh not doesn't like boats, so I tend to do the ferry side of things.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we I went over to Mull and Iona uh for a few days, I think five days all in all.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I stayed in Auburn to start with, so it was easy enough for me to get the ferry the next morning.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um Auburn itself is fine, again, nice seafood if you like it, it's quite pretty sunset, but mainly I would say Auburn for me is because it's a way for me to get over onto those islands, which I absolutely love.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, it is a destination in its own right that people will go and stay in Auburn.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but as I say, if you're going to go to the islands, then definitely plan on maybe staying at Auburn.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: We did stay in we stayed in a few different accommodation options in Auburn.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And this year, actually, we stayed in a really, really cool um kind of uh very self-it was self-contained uh and not expensive right next to the train station.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Next door to the station.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: It was perfect.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I will put a link in actually in some photos of that, and maybe I've got some videos as well of that actual accommodation because it was it was fantastic.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because we arrived on the latest train just as it was starting to get dark, so it was literally minutes away.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Two minutes, two minutes walk from the train station.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that was good.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: There's plenty of places to eat in Oban as well, and some some great shopping as well.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to do some shopping in Oban, Fenny Souvenirs.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but as I say, it's right next to the you're gonna get the ferry.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're gonna go over to the islands, for example, Mole, you're gonna get the ferry.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: You're also two minutes from the ferry terminal as well.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: The station's right there as well.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect, perfect.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I did mention that we're gonna talk a little bit about what what side of the train to sit on.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so let's kind of go through the journey right from the beginning.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: So from Glasgow, which which way would you sit?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you're sitting on the left-hand side in the direction of travel, when we talk about sitting on left or right hand side, we're always talking about facing the direction of travel.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I but as I say, don't get too too hung up on this really.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but farm Glasgow, I think certainly for the first part of the journey, the left-hand side is is a good side to sit on.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then you said from Crown Larry up to Fort William it doesn't really matter.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, again, there's both view both sides, you're gonna get views of the more and you know, so you get you you are sport for choice, really.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's only for later on if you really specifically wanted to see Ben Nevis, you know, you're probably slightly better on the right hand side.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think that's what I just love seeing the mountains.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then from Fort William to Malag, which is the best view?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because and I guess the question would be, I guess, for the Jacobite as well, which is the or which is the best side to be on to get the view of the Glen Finan viaduct as you cross it.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the the the your left-hand side you got because as you're coming out of Fort William, it is a left-hand sweep of the viaduct itself.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a slightly better view on that one as well.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, you're gonna get good views of it, you know.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: But it's if you miss it on the way going out, but you could always move seats on on your journey back.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if you're sitting on the left on the way there, you'll be on the left on the way back, so you'll see the other side.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it's gonna kind of work uh both ways uh for that, really.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now, uh, I did say we're gonna chat a little bit about the other trains.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we'll talk about the Jacobite in a second, but the obvious one to talk about is Caledonian sleeper because actually this year we took the Caledonia Sleeper from Houston up to Fort William.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's one of the Highlander sleepers, yeah.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely love it.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely love that I cannot tell you how much we both love the Caledonia sleeper.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I did it twice.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I also took it this year from uh Fort William back down to Birmingham because I've now have a stop in Birmingham and the way these.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_01: International Birmingham International, yes.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um I also did it that way around.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that was the way that we got there, so that gave us the time to do the amount of trips that we're gonna do.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: So talk a little bit.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: We actually have got two podcasts all about the Caledonia Sleeper, so I will link to those.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I mean, how would you sum up the Caledonia Sleeper?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Special beyond belief, uh, particularly the the northbound services from London Euston.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we are talking about the Highlander service.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: We make that very clear.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about the London Euston, which goes to Fort William, or if you're going on the Highland Line um to Inverness.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the Highland Main Line.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: And Highland Main Line as opposed to the West Highland Line, which is the one to um Fort William.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: But it's the it's the going north you want to do.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: You want to go from London Euston, you want to go to either Inverness or you want to go to Fort William because that is when you leave the city of London and you wake up in the Highlands of Scotland, and it's just fabulous.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely fabulous.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: So special.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're fortunate to have a double room this time as well.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: We did, which was absolutely amazing.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: So if you can book that, book the double room because it was like an experience like none of that.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, it was fabulous.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so um that and that's six days a week for the six days, six nights a week.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Does it on Saturday nights?
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we're gonna talk about the Jacobite.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when we actually arrived in Fort William this year, the Jacobite was there.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: We had no idea because it has been delayed, it was delayed this year.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we couldn't believe it.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: We got off the train in Fort William, and there in front of us was the Jacobite.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: All steamed up.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Ready to go.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was the first uh service of the year.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and now we have been on it before a few years ago, before it was kind of it was it's been not running as as as much.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it was fantastic to see that steam train there.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then actually, when we when we're leaving, when we got to Malik, it was it it arrived at And we've got more pictures of the case.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: There was this mid part of the journey as well.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we've got code that steamed up there as well.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And uh actually uh yeah, it was there waiting.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Malik, which was which was fantastic.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: And people on that day were actually able to buy tickets um from the the staff for the train.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: And usually it starts up uh well in advance, but I think because it was kind of uh um not necessarily well known, I think that it all of a sudden it started up.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it is fantastic.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: But if you can't get on the Jacobite, you can do that same route, can't you?
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you do the same train line.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the the Scot Rail um mainline rail services, they run on this same route all the way from Glasgow, Queen Street.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: If there's still Scot Rail services to Auburn, there's Scot Rail services that divide at Crown Larry and run up to Fort William and then on to Malik.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it's exactly the same service.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, you're going to cross the same Glenfin and Viaduct.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing you use it's a diesel engine and not a steam logo.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: But it's still you get to see the viaduct, so it's really quite cool.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now talk a little bit about practicalities of this route.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: So things like to make it also kind of an example of how much it costs, when should I book?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a way to save a bit of money on this route?
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: What would you recommend?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what I did prior to starting this video, I had a quick look at two lots of price.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, three if you count a single or return journey.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not necessarily going to say the prices, but what I will say is looking at the price of a single ticket tomorrow's journey and in six weeks' time, they were identical.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: So the the prices for a return journey were only slightly more than a single journey.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no reason why you wouldn't buy a return ticket.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you wanted an open return, there's a slight increase because obviously you you're not selecting one individual train.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: So just bear in mind the few services, only the four a day from uh the one the entire length of the journey from uh Glasgow Queen Street to Malik.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: So have a good idea in mind exactly what your plan is if you're staying or you're going to be catching a late train back.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: But just bear in mind the different times of the year as regards daylight hours.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: So if you that's the price of the tickets, uh, but if you wanted to make a saving on that, um, we have our article, the 13 top tips ways to save money on UK trains, that's on our website.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so you might consider if you qualify for a national rail card, which will give you one third of your ticket price.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then what about getting a Brit rail pass?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is that does that work on the line?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: You can use it?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: That works entirely on this line as well.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you whether you've got a uh consecutive pass or got a flexible pass and you've activated it for that day, if you have a valid brit rail pass, that is accepted on this route.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you are have a brit rail and then you are taking the Caledonia sleeper, you just pay the supplement for that birth.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: And is it valid on the Jacobite?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: It is not valid on the Jacobite because that is a private heritage and that's through West Coast Railways.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: You need to book directly through their website.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: And what about uh things like seat reservations?
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: Do I need to do those?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's recommended, uh, particularly if you're travelling in a little mini group, uh a family group or a friend group.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a good idea to reserve some seats as well.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: You could do that at any staff railway station.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um and they say don't get too hung up if you want to be on one side and it's on the other side.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you're coming back in the opposite direction, you know, you can try and actually uh talk to the ticket office, the station staff throughout the country.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be making seat reservations from Glasgow, Queen Street, Four William, Malig.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can make it from anywhere in the UK.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: As long as it's a staffed railway station.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what about um the kind of essentials Wi-Fi and food and drink?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the the Caledonian Sleep and the Um Scott Rail services do provide Wi-Fi, but in all honesty, I've struggled to get it working at times, and I heard others mention the same as well.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they do provide it, but it is not the most reliable.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if it's something important to you, I would cater for yourself.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now, uh luggage.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say about luggage.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: The luggage as well, it's these are small commuter trains, these are not uh intercity, so there's not huge amounts of luggage space.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: There is some, and on the busy journeys, it they can get quite uh quite busy as well.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: So as light as possible, you could travel, I would recommend as well.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Which we always say for train travel.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, most definitely, yes.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so if you're gonna do you want to do this trip, and we actually have done a consult before, I think, where somebody wanted to do the trip, um, but realised how long it was, and then they kind of decided not to do it.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but can I do it in a day?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it in a day, but that first train from Glasgow is pretty early in the morning, and you know, obviously, depending on the time of year, whether it's gonna be light at that time or not, and then same coming back, the last train back gets in, you know, getting towards midnight.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, the lot even in the summer, the last part's gonna be in darkness, but to get the best out of it, yeah, you know, in all honesty, I wouldn't necessarily be doing it all the way the whole entire length of journey Queen Street to Maligan back in a day.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: I have done it in my in my younger days, um, but you know, to get the best of the scenery, not necessarily the best of ideas.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, spend some time to enjoy it.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe, you know, if you're gonna go on like I did, I went to Oban and then went over to the islands.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, go up to Malig and then go over to Skye.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, make it part of a slightly bigger plan because in all honesty, you're going all the way up to the highlands, you must spend a little bit of time there as well.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'll also mention on board the uh the trains, some seem to have um a trolley refreshment service, some have not.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: I've travelled at weekends and when there should have been and there wasn't.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, whichever journey you're doing, even if you get in off some other point that the stations would mention, I would bring your own snacks and food and be prepared.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's always a good idea.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now, what I want to just mention as well, actually, if you if you get to say you're in Fort William, you've gone up to Malak back down to Fort William and you think actually I want to go to Inverness.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously, doing that by train is going to take you a long, long time.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: So you have got an option you could hire a car and then drive to Inverness.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: But there is also a bus.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want, you can take a bus.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I did the bus this year actually, because I couldn't get the train to kind of marry up with what I wanted to do from Oban up to Fort William.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: I caught the bus.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: I will put a link.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: It was really good, it was really cheap.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there was that was actually a pound that it cost me for that that bus because it's a bit of an offer at the minute.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure how long it lasts for.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that was really good.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: So don't think it think, okay, I want to then go on Inverness.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: How am I going to do it?
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: You can actually catch a bus and then continue your travel then and do actually the the West line.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: The Highland Main Line.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Highland Main Line.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: I was thinking, I'm on West.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: No, we're not on West, the Highland Main Line.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have luggage with you on the bus?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I did actually, but I just had a small because I had a small pull along.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't have a lot of luggage.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it was it was very, very easy to do.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you've aged about that bus service.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to be able to do that.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: I just thought it was really, really good.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: I just thought it and because it was so difficult for me to kind of marry up the trains um that I could do it by train, that it was just easier to catch the bus.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, that was a very scenic trip actually from Oban up to Fort William.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the coastal route.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that coast.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the coast route was was was absolutely lovely.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I did that.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk a little bit about accessibility for these, uh for this uh West Harland line.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: Get myself in the right part of the world again.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: West Harland Line.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: So talk a little bit about accessibility, Doug.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so Glasgow, Queen Street, uh there is um step-free access to the platform level, and then also the main stations that we've talked about, the Oban, Fort William, Malig, and Cren Larry as well, there is step-free access there as well.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: And can you get any assistance if you need it?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, ScotRail is the same as the entire UK.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: There is um mobility, passenger assist if you should need it, best booked in advance.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: But if you travel in last minute, they will do their best to help you as well.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect, right?
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm gonna put you on the spot with a quick fire.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can't think about this, you just have to give me the answer.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: All right, the single best window view on the whole line.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think you can't go far past Vanic Moore when it's both sizes, stunning.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Maliko Oban.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: Malik for me.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: One station worth getting off at.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, good grief.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: That is that is not easy.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's one station.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, quick.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: The clock is ticking.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one station.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: What first came to your mind?
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you can get off and wait just a few minutes, get off at Carol and have a quick little round, but make sure you jump back on the train as well.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, don't get too much.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because those views from that that platform are pretty special.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: You feel like you're an invisible dot on an invisible dot on a big open expanse.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: One thing to book before you go.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Your passenger assist if you need that.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: Sleeper or daytime.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Both.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: How about sleeper up and then daytime back?
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'd I'll say so.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: Until you've experienced the the Caledonian sleeper and getting off that and just waking up and we're going to have our breakfast in the in the uh in the lounge car, it's in the club room.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: You think, wow, this is special.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: That was a that was an unfair question because I also could not have even answered that.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say the same sleeper up and daytime back for sure.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, okay, that is the end of episode 217.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: Can you believe it, Doug?
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks uh so much for coming in and always talking about train stuff with me.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're doing more and more episodes of the podcast.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you're enjoying listening to Doug on the podcast, talk about trains, um, or if you've got any questions about train travel, um, get in touch with us via Speakpipe.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, also, you can send us an email.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Doug has plenty of um, he does QA sessions about uh train travel.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: He can help you plan your train travel itinerary as well.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we do video reviews.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: So if there's something you want to know about um planning train travel in the UK, Doug is honestly a guy, he knows exactly what he's talking about.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: I know the whole country.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he knows that I don't know anybody that knows train travel in the UK just as much as you do, to be honest.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so I will put all the links to everything we talked about in this episode in the show notes, and that guest leaves us to stay until next week.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Happy UK travel planning.