AT THE TIME OF THIS TRIP DOMESTIC TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS WITHIN SCOTLAND HAD BEEN LIFTED!

It had been 14 months since I had dragged myself out of bed for an early morning train journey to some new place in the UK. On this Tuesday morning it was the turn of ScotRail to take me to Corrour in the Scottish Highlands.

Having not done a long journey with ScotRail since before the Pandemic I was sceptical over the journey and how clean the trains would be, spoiler they were spotless.

Getting to Glasgow

The 0616 from Inverkip was my first train of the day. A spotless Class 380 that was busier than I was expecting, however, there was adequate capacity for everyone to maintain a distance on 1m. At the time of travel ticket checks were resuming on trains, however, there was no sign of staff on this train.

The Train to Corrour

The 0823 from the newly rebuilt Glasgow Queen Street was the train I had the most doubts about, however, I needn't have worried about my initial concerns.

The train was a 6 carriage Class 156 that would serve Oban, Fort William and Mallaig - dividing at Crianlarich. The train was, sadly, very quiet for the entire journey, however, this just made it easier to enjoy the spectacular views offered by the West Highland Line, I have included some shots below;

Although the train was comfortable from a Covid-19 perspective, the general aspects of the train were not great and let it down in my opinion.

The biggest issues were;

  • Poor location of the plug sockets, I mean right above someone's leg isn't a good place as I keeps getting knocked out.
  • The train was not a consistent temperature, and most passengers kept taking their jackets off, then putting them back on as the temperature changed.
  • The seats - this was the biggest issue for a mile. They would work for a short journey, however, after 3 hours I found them very uncomfortable and could not wait to get off an stretch my legs.
  • Onboard Announcements - I could not hear any of them, not the biggest issue for me, however for visually impaired customers who cannot read the onboard display, or deaf passengers who could not hear the announcements it would present a major issue!

Overall, the journey had the potential to be the best UK rail journey I have ever done, but the train really let it down!

Corrour Itself.

Let me put it simply, apart from a little B&B and a station house, there is nothing at Corrour, I was told by the station house staff, it is a 16 mile drive to the main road where they get their supplies!

The nothingness of Corrour can be excused as the scenery surrounding the station is phenomenal! I only had an hour at Corrour but I could have walked around all day. If you want to see Scotland at it's best, then come to Corrour for a walking trip, even for an hour - I will let the pictures below do the talking!

Despite the remote location, the station is fitted with a defibrillator should it be required.

With no phone signal, Corrour is a place to come if you want to disconnect from the negativity of the News and enjoy the scenery Scotland has to offer.

My final thoughts!

This was a trip that had the potential to be the best rail journey I had done in the UK, however, the journey was let down by that train to Corrour.

However, the scenery both on route and at my destination easily made up for this, as seen by the pictures above, and I would recommend anyone in the UK looking for a nice trip to put Corrour near the top of their list.