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West Highland Line train at Corrour: Below freezing

Photo: Iain Masterton / Alamy

A down coat, hat, gloves and, ideally, a thermos flask with hot tea - this is how passengers on the West Highland Line are currently setting off on their train journey through the western Scottish Highlands. Passengers complained that the temperature in the carriages regularly dropped below zero, reports the British “Guardian”. Locals have already named the train the “Polar Express,” alluding to the children’s book about a mysterious train journey to the North Pole.

The single-track railway line runs from Glasgow to the west coast of Scotland - to Oban or further north via Fort William to Mallaig. It is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. The Glenfinnan Viaduct also became famous as a backdrop in the “Harry Potter” films. The Hogwarts Express regularly crosses the 380 meter long bridge on 21 pillars on the way to the magic school. Corrour train station, in turn, was featured in the drug drama “Trainspotting” and, at 408 meters, is the highest train station in Great Britain.

The freezing guests on the West Highland Line will hardly notice the beauty of their train journey in the current wintry conditions. Ann McLachlan, from Taynuilt, east of Oban, told BBC Scotland that she and her husband Terry Halcrow went on a "dangerously cold" trip in mid-January.

It was around minus 10 degrees Celsius outside, and her husband was bitterly cold despite several layers of clothing: "Terry is a Shetland Islander, he worked in the North Sea, he is used to the cold, but he was completely frozen," she said. "Imagine if a parent with a small child or a frail elderly person had been in his place."

The railway line, whose construction began in 1842, is not electrified and has been used by diesel locomotives and railcars since the 1960s. According to the Guardian, the operator ScotRail explained that the Class 156 trains, which were mostly built in the 1980s, use the excess heat from their diesel engines to heat up the wagons. This would be a challenge, especially on the first rides of the day. ScotRail is working on “longer-term solutions and financing options that could improve on-board temperatures for our passengers.”

Some passengers don't see the cold weather journeys as being limited to the first day's journeys - they are common all day long. "When I went away for the weekend, I had to wear everything in my bag: hats, jackets, sweaters and so on," says Neil McInroy from Oban, according to the newspaper. His journey actually lasts three hours, "you often spend longer on the journey because there are delays, and if it's a cold carriage, that's terrible." In addition, there is no trolley service on board, and therefore not even hot tea on offer.

Traveling by train through the West Highlands will probably only become more comfortable with spring. From the end of March, in addition to the diesel trains, a steam-powered vintage train will be used between Fort William and Mallaig: "The Jacobite" runs daily and also leaves its white smoke when crossing the Harry Potter Bridge in Glenfinnan.

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