Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway

The co-operation of the Great North of Scotland Railway was less than perfect; and this, coupled with the circuitous route, and connectional difficulties at Aberdeen, made the arrangement very unsatisfactory to people in Inverness.

In addition it was clear that the Great North of Scotland Railway was planning its own independent line between Elgin and Inverness; at the same time the West Highland Railway was known to be considering a line along the Great Glen connecting from Fort William to Inverness.

It anticipated that Parliament would look favourably on them, if it could be shown that the Highland Railway was not taking adequate steps to improve its own line and its service to passengers and goods customers.

Acworth set out the issue in 1890: No amount of genius can extract much sustenance for railways… from the barren hills of Perthshire or Inverness.

But when the Great North announced their intention to apply for powers to Inverness, the Highland dared not wait longer.It could never face a Parliamentary Committee and maintain that the existing facilities to Inverness were sufficient, when it had taken no steps to supply the additional accommodation whose necessity it had itself asserted only a few years before…The construction of the new road will mean to [the Highland Railway], in the first place, a capital expenditure of some hundreds of thousands of pounds; secondly the cost of working some thirty additional miles; thirdly no additional traffic whatever; and lastly, the reduction of the passenger fares by as many pence as the new road will he shorter in miles than the old.

[7]Having received the authorisation, the Highland Railway did nothing to hasten actual construction, no doubt believing that the danger of encroachment had been staved off.

For six years from obtaining the necessary Act on 28 July 1884, the company managed to stave off any real action, although by 1886 agreements about land acquisition were made with proprietors.

[note 1][8][9][10][11][12] In October 1897 it was decided to install double track on the as-yet unopened section between Inverness and Daviot.

By 1897 the contract appeared finished, but then the HR decided to extend the double line from Culloden Moor to Daviot, and the bridge over the road to the farm had to be rebuilt from its single track formation before a train had run over it.

The opening of the line to Inverness was delayed for a further year until the completion of the route’s major work, the Culloden Viaduct over the Nairn, whose construction had bankrupted its first contractor.

At 5 a.m. another train left Perth, conveying sleeping cars from London and through carriages from southern railways, running via Carrbridge and arriving at Inverness at 8.35 a.m.

This train was also noted as conveying Sleeping Carriages Euston to Strathpeffer…A Forres connection left Aviemore at 8.25 a.m., arriving at 9.35 a.m.