Scenic route
Highland Main Line
Edinburgh → Inverness · Scotland
Over Druimuachdar Pass at 452 m, the highest main line in Britain, threading the Cairngorms from the capital to the Highland capital.
- Distance
- 300 km
- Fastest time
- ≈ 3 h 30 min
- Average speed
- 86 km/h
- Top speed
- 145 km/h
Stations
- 0 kmEdinburgh Waverley +5
- 2 kmHaymarket +2
- 116 kmPerth
- 141 kmDunkeld and Birnam
- 161 kmPitlochry
- 172 kmBlair Atholl
- 210 kmDalwhinnie
- 226 kmNewtonmore
- 231 kmKingussie
- 250 kmAviemore +1
- 260 kmCarrbridge
- 305 kmInverness +3
The stations OpenStreetMap lists for a train that runs this route end to end, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them. A +N after a station: N other routes on this map stop or end there, and the map draws it as a station where lines meet.
How this line was checked
- The 190 km this route shares with OpenStreetMap relation 1257824 is drawn from that relation's own nodes, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: 94.1% of this line lies within 250 m of real track (median 9 m); the longest stretch away from it is 5.5 km
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: ScotRail timetables, a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Highland Main Line?
The Highland Main Line runs 300 km from Edinburgh to Inverness.
How long does the Highland Main Line take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 3 h 30 min for the 300 km. That is an average of 86 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 145 km/h.
Who runs the Highland Main Line?
ScotRail.
How old is the Highland Main Line?
The line has been in service since 1863. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
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More train routes in United Kingdom · Scotland.
Planning this trip? Journey time & direct trains: Edinburgh → Inverness · Inverness → Edinburgh.