, symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Locheilside Outdoor.JPG , borough =

Loch Eil Loch Eil (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Iall'') is a sea loch in Lochaber, Scotland that opens into Loch Linnhe near the town of Fort William. ".. the name of the Chief of Clan Cameron is spelt LOCHIEL, while the name of the loch is spelt LOCH EIL,.. ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name =

Grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

, grid_position = , manager =

ScotRail ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish train operating company that is publicly owned by Scottish Rail Holdings on behalf of the Scottish Government. It has been operating the ScotRail franchise ...

, platforms = 1 , code = LHE , years = 6 May 1985 , events = Station opened , mpassengers = , footnotes = Passenger statistics from the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

Loch Eil Outward Bound railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

on the northern bank of

in the

region of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. This station is on the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( gd, Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean - "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in the ...

, between

Corpach Corpach ( gd, A' Chorpaich) is a large village north of Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands. The canal lock at Corpach Basin on Loch Linnhe, east of the narrows leading to Loch Eil, is the western sea entrance of the Caledonian Canal. It i ...

and

Locheilside , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Locheilside Station - geograph.org.uk - 2566221.jpg , caption = The station seen in 2011 , borough = Loch Eil, Highland , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , ...

, sited from

Banavie Banavie (; gd, Banbhaidh) is a small settlement near Fort William in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. One of the closest villages to Ben Nevis, it is about northeast of Fort William town centre, next to Caol and Corpach. It has been su ...

Junction, near Fort William.

, who manage the station, operate all services.

History

This station opened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four (British ra ...

in May 1985. Its name refers to the nearby

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

centre that the station was built to serve.

Signalling

On 6 December 1987, the station became a Token Exchange Point when the

Radio Electronic Token Block Radio Electronic Token Block is a system of railway signalling used in the United Kingdom. It is a development of the physical token system for controlling traffic on single lines. The system is slightly similar to North American Direct Traffic ...

(RETB) system was commissioned by

between Mallaig Junction (now called 'Fort William Junction') and . The RETB is controlled from a Signalling Centre at

Banavie railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Banavie Station (geograph 5324117).jpg , caption = The platform at Banavie with Ben Nevis's peak covered in cloud and snow. , borough = ...

. The

Train Protection & Warning System The Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) is a train protection system used throughout the British passenger main-line railway network, and in Victoria, Australia. The British Rail Safety and Standards Board's definition is: The purpose of TP ...

was installed in 2003.

Facilities

The station has a single platform equipped with a shelter, a bench, a help point and some bike racks, as well as a small car park. The station has step-free access from the car park, as well as to the waterfront at Loch Eil. As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

From Monday to Saturday, three trains stop heading to

Glasgow Queen Street , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Queen Street railway station (geograph 6687389).jpg , caption = Main entrance in 2020 , borough = Glasgow , country = Scotland , coordinates = , grid_name = Grid reference , grid_positi ...

(the other terminates at Fort William), and four trains stop on the way to

Mallaig Mallaig (; gd, Malaig derived from Old Norse , meaning sand dune bay) is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line (Fort Willi ...

. On Sundays, this is reduced to three trains each way (again, one of the eastbound services terminates at Fort William).eNRT December 2021 Edition, Table 218

References

External Links

Video footage of the station on YouTube
Railway stations in Highland (council area) Railway stations opened by British Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1985 Railway stations served by ScotRail {{Highland-railstation-stub