Fort William station: the underpass to the High Street, ticket office hours, step-free access, taxis, parking, the bus station next door and the Jacobite.
Fort William station is on Station Square at the north-east end of the town centre, beside the bus station and Morrisons, in the area the Highland Council calls the Transport Centre. ScotRail manages it. West Highland Line trains from Glasgow arrive here, so does the Caledonian Sleeper from London Euston, and in season the Jacobite steam train leaves from here for Mallaig. The walk to Cameron Square on the High Street is in the station panel on this page.
The two platforms are level with the main entrance, National Rail notes, so there are no stairs or lifts between the train and the way out. Both lead to the concourse, which holds the ticket office, the machines and the toilets.
The A82 runs between the station and the town. The usual way across on foot is a pedestrian underpass beneath it, with a staircase up on the town-centre side; a council release in 2023 called the underpass and stairs the main pedestrian welcome into the town centre from the Transport Centre. When the underpass shut during the 2023 repairs, the council diverted people from the station to the Belford Road crossing point, the route to ask about if stairs are a problem. Beyond, the pedestrianised High Street runs south-west to Cameron Square and the West Highland Museum.
The ticket office opens every day: 07:00 to 20:00 Monday to Friday and 07:00 to 17:45 on Saturday. Sunday hours change with the season, from 09:30 to 20:30 in summer to 16:30 to 20:00 in winter. The ticket machines have room in front for a wheelchair and controls at a suitable height.
The toilets, accessible and Changing Places toilets included, are on the main concourse and are listed as open during ticket office hours, so on a winter Sunday not until the afternoon. The Changing Places toilet takes a RADAR key, there is baby changing, and National Rail also records weekday showers by the toilets, one of them accessible. There is a sheltered waiting area in the station building, a newsagent and buffet, and Wi-Fi.
National Rail places Fort William in step-free category A, which it explains as “step-free access to all platforms”. There are no lifts, and the platforms have tactile warnings. Boarding ramps and wheelchairs or mobility buggies are kept at the station.
The Passenger Assist meeting point is the ticket office, with a second one on the platforms by the pole on the railing where the tracks start; if the station is unstaffed, go straight to the departure platform. Staff are on hand from 07:00 to 22:30 Monday to Saturday and 16:20 to 20:30 on Sunday. Assistance can be booked up to two hours before a journey starts, at any time of day.
The taxi rank is across an uncontrolled road crossing and has set-back shelters only; a wheelchair ramp can be deployed only from the side of a vehicle there. At the bus station, Shiel Buses route 41 (Roy Bridge, Nevis Range and Fort William) lists Fort William Bus Station among its stops, with Glen Nevis Youth Hostel further along the route. Fort William without a car covers the wider bus network.
National Rail lists 50 parking spaces at the station, two of them accessible, and a drop-off point. Blue Badge holders park free in the accessible bays; there are no electric car chargers. The council’s Transport Centre car park on Nevis Terrace (PH33 6BT, RingGo zone 23477), also beside the station, has 74 pay-and-display spaces, charges round the clock and has a 24-hour maximum stay; its page listed £3 for up to 4 hours, £4 for up to 10 and £5 for up to 24, but check the tariff board. West Coast Railways asks Jacobite passengers not to use the supermarket car park.
Cycle storage takes 38 bikes plus two larger or adapted ones, and Nevis Cycles offers discounted hire to holders of a valid rail ticket.
ScotRail trains run from here back down the West Highland Line and west to Mallaig. Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen each have a page with the day’s trains, and London to Fort William sets the Caledonian Sleeper beside the daytime option.
The Jacobite, run by West Coast Railways, goes from Fort William to Mallaig and back, 84 miles in all. Its 2026 season ended on 23 October; next year’s dates will be on the operator’s page. In season the guard may sell a few cash-only seats on the day at the station, first come, first served, so book ahead; the Jacobite and Glenfinnan has the rest.
Each route has its own page with the day's trains, the changes and a link to times and fares.