page_title: History of the Far North of Scotland Railway Line
section_title: British Railways
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Far North of Scotland Railway Line / British Railways
caption_attribution_description: English: Thurso portion at Georgemas Junction A locomotive backs onto the Thurso coaches of the Inverness-Thurso/Wick morning train which have been propelled backwards around the sharp curve off the main line.
context_page_description: The Far North Line was built in several stages through sparsely populated and undulating terrain. Extending to 161 miles, it runs north from Inverness to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, and currently carries a regular passenger train service.
  It was completed in 1874, running round the western margin of the firths north of Inverness and then keeping to the coast as far as Helmsdale. From that point it turns inland through Forsinard, returning to the far north-east coast at Wick and Thurso.
  Some intermediate stations were closed in 1960 but despite the construction of major road bridges across the firths significantly shortening the route by road, the line has seen some revival at the southern end due to housing development, and it has a secure future. The original through route of 1874 remains in use.
context_section_description: The railways were nationalised in 1948 and British Railways created; this time the railways of Scotland were allocated in to their own management structure, the Scottish Region.
  The individual character of the locomotive power on the line began to be reduced, and more powerful locomotive types appeared. From 1958 diesel locomotives began to be used on the line.
  Many of the numerous passenger stations on the line were inconveniently located and served small communities, while the steady improvements to main roads since the 1930s reduced public dependency on the railway. On 13 June 1960 a large number of passenger stations were closed between Inverness and Bonar Bridge, where bus competition was greatest; beyond that point the road network is not so well developed and most of the stations remained in use. The closures saved a substantial element of journey time: 25 to 41 minutes, as well as £41,000 annually in costs. (Rogart station was re-opened nine months later.) In general the crossing loops at the closed stations were retained, so that operational convenience was not prejudiced.
  In 1981 the aluminium smelting plant at Invergordon was closed, chiefly due to difficulty in obtaining electric power at an economic price. This was a major blow to the employment in the area, and to freight carrying on the line.
  The major upgrading of the road network, and in particular the construction of the Kessock Bridge at Inverness (opened 1982), the Cromarty Bridge (opened 1979), and the Dornoch Firth Bridge (opened 1991), which vastly shortened the road transit north from Inverness, have seriously weakened the remaining competitiveness of the railway.
  There were a small number of station reopenings in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, at Alness (1973), Muir of Ord (1976), Beauly (2002) and Conon Bridge (2013), mostly in response to housing development and to enable commuting into Inverness.  At the request of the Highland Regional Council, the name of Bonar Bridge station was changed to Ardgay in 1977.
  Following the widespread loss of traditional lineside telegraph wires in blizzard conditions in January 1978, the decision was taken to replace the communication between signal boxes with radio transmissions. At first this retained traditional signalbox control, with only the communication between them being changed. In 1985 a novel system of train control was introduced, known as Radio Electronic Token Block (RETB). In this system the "token" traditionally required to be in the possession of the driver of a train on a single line, is made available as a display on apparatus in the driving cab. Most signals on the route were removed and points were spring-operated. The control centre for the system was at Dingwall; it enabled a very considerable saving in staff costs.
  From the introduction of diesel traction on the line in the early 1960s, Class 26 locomotives were used, followed later by Class 37 locomotives. A writer in 1961 said that "At present, diesel traction is used only for goods trains, and the Sunday morning newspaper train from Inverness to Lairg, which returns as a passenger train." The general pattern of passenger operation was three trains daily, dividing (northbound) at Georgemas Junction, with one portion going to Thurso and one to Wick. Incidentally this rendered the passenger facility between the two terminals impracticable.
  Passenger operation was changed to multiple unit trains in the 1990s, using Class 156 sets at first, and later Class 158s. The service pattern was altered so that trains to Wick ran from Georgemas to Thurso and back to Wick, saving operating costs.
caption: Separating the Thurso portion at Georgemas Junction
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