page_title: Outer Hebrides
section_title: Transport
hierarchical_section_title: Outer Hebrides / Transport
caption_attribution_description: English: Bus na Comhairle Optare Solo YJ14BDY is seen in Sandwick in May 2020
context_page_description: The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles, sometimes known as Innse Gall or the Long Isle/Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority.
  Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from ancient metamorphic rocks and the climate is mild and oceanic. The 15 inhabited islands have a total population of 26,830 and there are more than 50 substantial uninhabited islands. From Barra Head to the Butt of Lewis is roughly 210 kilometres.
  There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors.
context_section_description: Scheduled ferry services between the Outer Hebrides and the Scottish Mainland and Inner Hebrides operate on the following routes:
  Oban to Castlebay on Barra
  Oban to Lochboisdale on South Uist (Winter Only)
  Mallaig to Lochboisdale on South Uist
  Uig on Skye to Tarbert on Harris
  Uig on Skye to Lochmaddy on North Uist
  Ullapool to Stornoway on Lewis
  Tiree to Castlebay, Barra (summer only).
  Other ferries operate between some of the islands.
  National Rail services are available for onward journeys, from stations at Oban and Mallaig, which has direct services to Glasgow. However, parliamentary approval notwithstanding, plans in the 1890s to lay a railway connection to Ullapool were unable to obtain sufficient funding.
  There are scheduled flights from Stornoway, Benbecula and Barra airports both inter-island and to the mainland. Barra's airport is claimed to be the only one in the world to have scheduled flights landing on a beach. At high water the runways are under the sea so flight times vary with the tide.
caption: Bus Na Comhairle Optare Solo YJ14 BDY seen in Sandwick - May 2020
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