Overview of Inverness Railway Station

Inverness Railway Station & the Royal Highland Hotel
©2013 Gazetteer for Scotland

Located is Station Square off Academy Street, in the northeast of the town centre, and adjacent to the Eastgate Shopping Centre, Inverness has a significant railway station which serves as a terminus for services coming from Wick, Thurso, Kyle of Lochalsh, Perth and Aberdeen; there are no through-trains providing a passenger service. It lies at the southern apex of a triangular junction. The original station was built in 1855 by Joseph Mitchell (1803-83) for the short Inverness and Nairn Railway. It was extended by Murdoch Paterson (1826-98) in 1876 and a modern but uninspiring entrance was applied in 1968. Colourful plaques inside commemorate the building of the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway, and the Directors of that company.

A train maintenance depot, engine sheds and freight sidings are located to the north of the station, while a remarkable roundhouse and turntable complex lying just to the east was demolished in 1963 and is now the site of a supermarket.

The Royal Highland Hotel (formerly the Station Hotel) lies adjacent. This was operated by the state-owned British Transport Hotels group following the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, but sold off in 1982 and is now privately-owned.