Get the Highlands on Track: Dual and Electrify the Highland Main Line
The Highlands has waited long enough.
Despite being home to vibrant communities, growing tourism, and vital freight routes, the Highland Main Line - the only rail link between Inverness and the Central Belt -remains stuck in the past. Around two-thirds of the 118-mile line is still single-track and diesel-operated. That means slower journeys, frequent delays, and limited capacity.
In the 21st century, it’s often quicker to drive than take the train and that’s simply not good enough.
This Government is committed to spending eye-watering sums of money on dualling the A9, when the rail line that runs alongside it could be upgraded at a fraction of the cost and create real change for all the communities along its route.
Rail investment is climate action. It’s economic development. It’s fairness.
Dualling and electrifying the Highland Main Line would:
- Cut journey times, improve reliability and increase availability
- Support more passengers to move from road to rail
- Reduce transport emissions and air pollution
- Enable more freight to move off the A9
- Reconnect communities like Tomatin with new stations
- Future-proof the network against extreme weather
In 2008, the Scottish Government promised to cut journey times by rail to Inverness by 30 minutes. Nearly two decades later, only four minutes have been saved and Highlanders are still waiting.
We need a fast, green, and resilient railway - not more broken promises.
The Scottish Greens are calling for:
- Full dualling and electrification of the Highland Main Line
- A funded timetable for delivery
- Reopening of rural stations like Tomatin
- A rail-first approach to transport planning in the Highlands
It’s time to stop treating the Highlands as an afterthought. Let’s flood the Transport Secretary’s inbox and demand the infrastructure we deserve.