West Highland Line closes for nine days as Network Rail spends £13m

Buses are replacing trains between Crianlarich, Fort William and Mallaig until Tuesday 17 November. Network Rail is using the nine-day closure of the West Highland Line, which began on Monday, for a £13m package of track, drainage and structures work.

The package was announced by Network Rail on 4 September. Teams are working at sites between Helensburgh, Fort William and Mallaig, the infrastructure manager said, with the aim of cutting delays and speed restrictions and making the route more resilient to severe weather.

The largest item is track. More than 4km of worn rail is being renewed at several points, including near Arisaig and Corrour, inside the Loch nan Uamh and Beasdale tunnels, at Arrochar & Tarbet station and on Gleann Mama Viaduct.

Water is the second target. Crews are improving drainage and renewing culverts, notably between Glen Douglas and Arrochar & Tarbet. Fassfern Bridge near Spean Bridge is being refurbished, a redundant bridge near Loch Eil removed, and vegetation cleared between Fort William and Arisaig.

Gerry McQuade, capital delivery director at Network Rail Scotland, said closing the line "isn't ideal at any time", but allowed "a large amount of work in one go, rather than causing repeated disruption over a longer period".

This is the second November in a row that the line has gone dark. In 2025, Network Rail shut Crianlarich to Fort William from 7 to 17 November for a £15m programme that replaced around 10km of rail and 9,100 sleepers and renewed a bridge near Corrour. Taken together, the two blockades put £28m into the route in twelve months. The approach is deliberate: one long closure in the quiet season replaces a string of short overnight possessions, an argument Network Rail itself makes for this year's work.

The timing also protects the summer. The Mallaig extension carries the Jacobite steam service over Glenfinnan Viaduct, and the line's visitor traffic peaks between spring and autumn. A November closure hits fewer passengers, but it still cuts off communities that rely on the railway in winter; ScotRail is running replacement buses for the duration. The infrastructure manager has not said how much of the route remains to be renewed after this year's work.

Replacement buses run until Tuesday 17 November, and passengers are advised to check National Rail Enquiries before travelling. Scotland's railway is also in the middle of a wider electrification and fleet programme, while Merseyrail recently used a long blockade to waterproof its Liverpool tunnel.

Sources: Network Rail, "£13m upgrades planned for West Highland Line this November", 4 September 2026; Network Rail, "Two weeks to go" notice on the 2025 closure, 24 October 2025; National Rail Enquiries, planned works Fort William–Mallaig, 9–17 November 2026.

Photo: a ScotRail Class 156 near Bridge of Orchy on the West Highland Line, 13 September 2008 — Phil Richards, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited, reviewed by the TrainsNews editorial team before publication.