v t e Mallaig Extension Railway
Legend
Mallaig Morar River Morar Arisaig Beasdale Lochailort Lech-a-Vuie Platform Glenfinnan Glenfinnan Viaduct Locheilside Loch Eil Outward Bound Corpach Caledonian Canal Banavie Banavie Pier Banavie Junction (New) West Highland Railway

TheMallaig Extension Railway is arailway line inHighland,Scotland. It runs fromBanavie Junction (New) on theBanavie Pier branch of theWest Highland Railway toMallaig. Theprevious "Banavie Junction" closer toFort William was renamed "Mallaig Junction" upon opening of the Mallaig Extension Railway. The line is still open as part of theWest Highland Line.

The railway was envisaged as extension of the railway from Glasgow to Fort William, which opened in 1894. Fort William was not a suitable location for a deep water fishing port, hence the need to extend the line north west to allow transport of fish to major markets and to improve the economy of an impoverished and underdeveloped part of Scotland. Accordingly, the Mallaig Extension Railway was the last major railway line to be constructed during the first phase of the development of Britain's rail network 1825-1901 and the first major line to be built with a subsidy from theUK Government. Initially, the line was intended to terminate atRoshven, where a deep water port would have been constructed. Opposition from landowners led to the line being constructed toMallaig instead and a fishing port was duly developed there. Roshven was never served by rail and the proposed port at Roshven went unbuilt.

The railway receivedRoyal Assent on 31 July 1894. The line opened on 1 April 1901. It is famous for the concrete structures built along the line bySir Robert McAlpine, the most notable of which isGlenfinnan Viaduct.

The line was operated from the start by the North British Railway, which became part of theLondon and North Eastern Railway in 1923 and then theScottish Region of British Railways in 1948. As of 2025, the line is operated byScotRail and the infrastructure is maintained byNetwork Rail.

There have been several proposals to close the line, notably in theBeeching cuts of the 1960s and theSerpell report of 1982. None have been implemented, in large part due to the condition of the parallelA830 road, which was in part single track with passing places until 2007.

As of 2025, the line has become an important part of Scotland's tourism infrastructure (includingThe Jacobite (steam train) in summer months and consequently there are no longer any proposals to close the line.

• West Highland Railway atBanavie Junction (new)

• Awdry, Christopher (1990).Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 1-8526-0049-7.OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995).The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.).Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7.OCLC 60251199.OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989).Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0.OCLC 22311137.
• Thomas, John (1965).The West Highland Railway. Newton Abbot: David and Charles (Publishers) Ltd.ISBN 0-7153-7281-5.
• RAILSCOT on Mallaig Extension Railway

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