Far North Line - how could it be improved?

[yoyothehobo]

I love the FNL. The journey through the Flow Country is underrated massively.

How could it be improved? Have a bar car inserted on the train selling beer and snacks.

Anything improving the services timings i think is too much to cash to compete with the bus and the car.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Anything improving the services timings i think is too much to cash to compete with the bus and the car.

I'm not sure journey time is that important on a line like this. Going to Inverness takes all day. Whether it's all day plus or minus half an hour matters a lot less.

What matters on that sort of line is service and comfort. The Inverness 158s are certainly nice inside. A road coach never offers a superior journey quality to a decently specified train. Though it is two quid (a scheme I consider incredibly ill advised compared to the English scheme which only does local bus).

 

[Zomboid]

Whilst it may not be the absolute most scenic route in the country, it would definitely benefit from rolling stock that's designed for scenic routes. A dome car is probably too much to ask for, but something with big windows throughout and a sort of "observation lounge" space would probably work as an attraction on this, Kyle, West Highland, maybe even the Stranraer line, plus other quiet but scenic routes in England & Wales (Heart of Wales? Conwy Valley? Whitby?).

Properly promoted it'd probably be able to attract people to form part of a day out in the locality rather than just a means of getting from A to B.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

How fast could an express from Inverness to Thurso get? There might be appeal in having a fast service leaving soon after the sleeper arrives (and before the up sleeper departs), calling only at Muir of Ord, Dingwall, Invergordon, Tain, then non-stop to Georgemas Jct, apart from maybe a call at Lairg or Helmsdale if passing another service is required.

Whilst Ardgay (and including Bonar Bridge just across the river) Lairg, Golspie, Brora and Helmsdale are all villages they are all in Highland terms decent sized communities and some serving wider areas which could be worthy of a stop in a limited stop service.

I have never understood why all the tiny communities get all the stops even if request stops. A survey of actual useage might identify which trains are typically used there and reduce them to two or even one stop each way each day to save a handful of minutes.

Given the low speed of the turnouts, I'd imagine skipping stops doesn't gain you very much time anyway.

There would be a time beneift in missing those stations which do not have loops (and there are quite a few) enabling them to be passed at line speed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have never understood why all the tiny communities get all the stops even if request stops. A survey of actual useage might identify which trains are typically used there and reduce them to two or even one stop each way each day to save a handful of minutes.

Saving a handful of minutes isn't really of benefit on services like those.

As for "useless" stations, if it doesn't justify 3 trains per day, close it. There's little point in Parliamentarising on routes like that.

 

[brad465]

Looking at the historical usage, the line peaked in the 2010-15 era; Dingwall had double its current patronage and over 100,000, while Thurso was close to 50k, compared to 31k more recent, among several examples. Does anyone know what caused this, given the decline started before covid? The only thing I can think of is a decent long distance bus service being introduced.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Less business travel?

 

[mike57]

I have only used the Far North Line once, and that was in the Autumn of 2021, I had to visit a facility in Bower and Georgemas Junc was the nearest station. I was met at the station, as was the only other passenger getting off, no one got on... The return journey was by air from Wick, but on the outward journey flying didnt work. The train was not busy, and a lot of the passengers who joined at the start in Inverness seemed to be headed for Thurso. Really the Kyle line is a better scenic route from Inverness, the flow country is worth seeing, but if I was planning a day trip from Inverness I would go for Kyle.

Saving minutes on a 3 1/2 hour journey isn't going to increase passenger numbers. To appeal to tourists you need decent rolling stock, and for people like myself travelling from much further south connections at Inverness are the thing. Even with A9 improvements its worth noting that the driving time from my neck of the woods is around 10 hours, and that is going to be tiring, and flights are even more infrequent than the train.

My own view is its probably best left pretty much as is, but given the infrequent service reliability has to be the most important thing.

 

[styles]

Less business travel?

Is there much business travel on the Far North Line? The first trains of the day don't get to Wick until 11:31, Thurso at 10:59, and Inverness at 10:43 from Wick/Thurso.. Obviously not all work meetings start at 9am, but mornings are a bit of a write-off without an overnight stay really. Maybe people travelling for longer work stays at the ports etc?

The services from Lairg/Ardgay I believe were adapted a couple of years ago to encourage more commuting to/from Inverness, but north of that I'm not so sure. This capacity only covers maybe a quarter or a third of the full length of the line, so I don't think many of the OP suggestions would really benefit.

 

[35B]

If you wanted to seriously accelerate the FNL, you'd implement the Dornoch Crossing plans of the late 1980s, and you'd write off the loop via Lairg. You'd save a chunk of time on one of the long detours the line makes, and get some decent acceleration to Wick/Thurso, while adding one of the larger local settlements (Dornoch) to the network. The cost would be losing the railhead for large chunks of Sutherland that Lairg provides (with all due respect to Rogart, a passing loop for a hamlet that only gets a request stop is not a policy priority!).

The catch-22 is that this is not a cheap upgrade, and the losses are (in local terms) significant.

I last travelled the line in 1993, and am long overdue a repeat visit. But the reality is that it's a long rural byway that offers a decent canter - and is never going to get much beyond that level.

Better by far to boost demand and make the journey more attractive for those settling in.

 

[HighlandStorm]

Looking at the historical usage, the line peaked in the 2010-15 era; Dingwall had double its current patronage and over 100,000, while Thurso was close to 50k, compared to 31k more recent, among several examples. Does anyone know what caused this, given the decline started before covid? The only thing I can think of is a decent long distance bus service being introduced.

Connon Bridge station reopened in early February 2013 - for the following 2 years there was a contraflow on the A9 Kessock Bridge. The station opening before the contraflow was put in place was part of the traffic mitigations, including lengthening FNL trains, adding carpark capacity at several stations and junction / traffic light modifications on the A82 between Rose Street and Longman Roundabouts in Inverness. There was a very rapid rise in rail traffic during the first week of the bridge contraflow!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Jul 2026 ==

Maybe this could improve end to end journey times?

 

[class26]

Looking at the historical usage, the line peaked in the 2010-15 era; Dingwall had double its current patronage and over 100,000, while Thurso was close to 50k, compared to 31k more recent, among several examples. Does anyone know what caused this, given the decline started before covid? The only thing I can think of is a decent long distance bus service being introduced.

Increasingly unreliable services due to lack of passing loops meaning missed connections at Inverness hasn`t helped.

 

[al78]

* Yes, and Altnabreac, but out of principle the station must not be closed until such time as a certain couple no longer live there, as otherwise a very dangerous precedent is set.

Can you explain what this is about.

There are several estate roads around that station, I have wondered about a linear hike/backpack from the station along the estate roads going via Dalnawillan Lodge, Ben Alisky, Achnaclyth, Dunbeath, then catch a bus back to Inverness.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Can you explain what this is about.

There is a long-running thread:

Altnabreac station and the various legal disputes around it

No trains calling at Altnabreac for the foreseeable future. A quote from the Friends of the Far North Line facebook page A very concerning situation has been developing for a while at Altnabreac Station on the Far North Line. The station is in a remote part of Caithness and there is no road...

www.railforums.co.uk

In essence there is a long-running and complex legal case surrounding the station, the line and the inhabitants of the station house as to who owns the land it is all on. Closing the station would be handing the couple a victory and setting a precedent that if you don't like the presence of a railway station you can just cause enough legal faff that the railway will close it, and you will get what you want.

It's very important that this couple are not handed a victory, and thus the station must remain open until such time as they no longer live there. Whether it closes afterwards is a bit moot due to its very low usage, though there is no actual proposal I know of to do so.

 

[styles]

Closing the station would be handing the couple a victory

In many ways I'm not even sure it would be a victory for them. They don't have a road legal car and there's no bus stops for miles, so save for people giving them lifts, the train or some very long bicycle rides are the only way for them to get to towns etc.