Inverness - Fort William

[Arglwydd Golau]

I'm planning a little jaunt in Scotland in October for a few friends, one of whom has never been to Scotland before! We'll be travelling by train to Inverness via Edinburgh, I'm hoping that someone with knowledge of buses (assume I know nothing and you'd be near the mark) can give me some info on the bus link between Inverness and Fort William.....all I have seen is the timetable.

 

[yorkie]

It's a coach.. except the last time when I did it, it was a local Stagecoach coach replacement bus, which ran non-stop for pre-booked passengers only and everyone travelling to/from intermediate stops and/or wishing to pay on the day was left behind.

 

[gazthomas]

As Yorkie says it should be a Citylink coach. I’ve have used it without issue in the opposite direction

 

[Welshman]

I used it several years ago from Fort William to Inverness.
It was a coach. Fairly comfortable. frequent and direct. Using Fort William and Inverness bus stations[both near the railway stations].
It saves a long roundabout journey by train. What more can be said? Scottish Rover/runabout tickets used to be valid on it, but I don't know if they still are.

 

[Robertj21a]

I'm planning a little jaunt in Scotland in October for a few friends, one of whom has never been to Scotland before! We'll be travelling by train to Inverness via Edinburgh, I'm hoping that someone with knowledge of buses (assume I know nothing and you'd be near the mark) can give me some info on the bus link between Inverness and Fort William.....all I have seen is the timetable.

Comfortable Citylink coach when I was on it.

 

[overthewater]

It's a coach.. except the last time when I did it, it was a local Stagecoach coach replacement bus, which ran non-stop for pre-booked passengers only and everyone travelling to/from intermediate stops and/or wishing to pay on the day was left behind.

Is that legal? if it never stopped anyone then tech the service failed to operate?

 

[Starmill]

What penalties apply for cancelled buses? None that I am aware of? Is there a clear contractual right to a refund if a bus service is cancelled?

 

[GusB]

What penalties apply for cancelled buses? None that I am aware of? Is there a clear contractual right to a refund if a bus service is cancelled?

I'm not an expert on these matters, and I'm not sure if there's a clear right to a refund if a bus service doesn't run as planned, although if I had pre-booked and paid for ticket I would not be happy. I would imagine that the customer service team's response (if there is one) varies depending on the size of the operation.

Traffic commissioners can and do get quite upset if companies don't run to their published timetables and frequent violations can result in operators' licences being revoked.

 

[Jordan Adam]

The type used for the Citylink runs now should be a fairly new (67 plate) Plaxton Elite. There's 4 of them at Inverness for the 917 and 919, but as you could expect there would be times where other types substitute.

 

[Robertj21a]

It's a coach.. except the last time when I did it, it was a local Stagecoach coach replacement bus, which ran non-stop for pre-booked passengers only and everyone travelling to/from intermediate stops and/or wishing to pay on the day was left behind.

I have to assume from that it was full up with passengers who had booked in advance. Alternatively, that was a duplicate and another bus/coach actually ran the scheduled service for intermediate passengers etc.

 

[route101]

Always wanted to do this route , will do it when the day is longer . I thought it was a combined citylink / stagecoach route last time i looked at the timetable .

 

[gazthomas]

I used it several years ago from Fort William to Inverness.
It was a coach. Fairly comfortable. frequent and direct. Using Fort William and Inverness bus stations[both near the railway stations].
It saves a long roundabout journey by train. What more can be said? Scottish Rover/runabout tickets used to be valid on it, but I don't know if they still are.

I don't recall a bus station in Fort William, more a row of bus stops next to the Morrisons (and parallel to the railway line)

 

[overthewater]

Always wanted to do this route , will do it when the day is longer . I thought it was a combined citylink / stagecoach route last time i looked at the timetable .

It was and then stagecoach got rid of the service 19 and merged it with 919 last march?

 

[Welshman]

I don't recall a bus station in Fort William, more a row of bus stops next to the Morrisons (and parallel to the railway line)

Yes. That's what I assumed was the "bus station"

 

[gazthomas]

Yes. That's what I assumed was the "bus station"

 

[Welshman]

I've used "bus stations" with fewer facilities.
Have you seen Keswick's?

 

[gazthomas]

I've used "bus stations" with fewer facilities.
Have you seen Keswick's?

I haven't but I'm guessing it is, well, rudimentary!

 

[Welshman]

I haven't but I'm guessing it is, well, rudimentary!

A road, a Booth's supermarket nearby, some bus stops, and a wall to perch on!!!

 

[backontrack]

I haven't but I'm guessing it is, well, rudimentary!

It's a trio of bus stops outside Booths.

A road, a Booth's supermarket nearby, some bus stops, and a wall to sit on!!!

Don't knock it; any bus station with a good café attached to it is a plus!

 

[Robertj21a]

A road, a Booth's supermarket nearby, some bus stops, and a wall to perch on!!!

At least that Booth's is very good.

 

[backontrack]

At least that Booth's is very good.

True!

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Thanks for the info about the Fort William bus, perhaps we'll try to fit in Keswick bus station on the way home if it is that good!

 

[fowler9]

At least that Booth's is very good.

Indeed it is, I use it at least once a year on the way to the Keswick Beer Festival after getting off the bus. Possibly my favourite "bus station".

 

[Bletchleyite]

Don't knock it; any bus station with a good café attached to it is a plus!

Back of a Morrisons is no bad place for a bus station - decent cafe (Morrisons' fry-ups are pretty good) and toilets.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's a coach.. except the last time when I did it, it was a local Stagecoach coach replacement bus, which ran non-stop for pre-booked passengers only and everyone travelling to/from intermediate stops and/or wishing to pay on the day was left behind.

It is not unusual, particularly in either ski season or summer, for the Citylink coaches from FW to be fully booked, whatever they happen to be using to operate them. It is always well advised to reserve in advance if the train doesn't provide an acceptable backup option. Think of it as more NatEx/Megabus that happens to take walk-ups if there is space, not a regular walk-up bus service that happens to use a coach.

FWIW I'd pay extra for a decker on that route to enjoy the scenery.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I did it back in late summer both ways, it was a Citylink coach. Even though I was on a Spirit of Scotland pass, therefore I think covered for free, I still booked a ticket to guarantee my place onboard. I needn't have bothered since both directions were well under 50% full.

Do I dare to say that aside from the odd decent panorama, the trip wasn't half as pretty as I was expecting? In fairness it probably wasn't aided by the height of the vehicle and the slightly overcast day, but it still didn't hold a candle to say the A87 on Skye etc.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I did it back in late summer both ways, it was a Citylink coach. Even though I was on a Spirit of Scotland pass, therefore I think covered for free, I still booked a ticket to guarantee my place onboard. I needn't have bothered since both directions were well under 50% full.

Not always the case, though. The only reason I have even been on the Inverness route was that the Glasgow bus was fully booked (and this was over a week in advance). It was a Sunday and the first train is in the afternoon, if I recall correctly it's impossible to get all the way to MKC (or indeed London) from that train without an overnight stopover or use of the Sleeper. So I went Fort William-Inverness-Edinburgh-MKC, which if a bit long is quite pleasantly scenic.

 

[overthewater]

Not always the case, though. The only reason I have even been on the Inverness route was that the Glasgow bus was fully booked (and this was over a week in advance). It was a Sunday and the first train is in the afternoon, if I recall correctly it's impossible to get all the way to MKC (or indeed London) from that train without an overnight stopover or use of the Sleeper. So I went Fort William-Inverness-Edinburgh-MKC, which if a bit long is quite pleasantly scenic.

How odd there tend to put out a dup if it extremely busy.

 

[Bletchleyite]

How odd there tend to put out a dup if it extremely busy.

It was a Sunday, so I expect they were probably too short of staff to do so. Perhaps it was half term or something.

 

[overthewater]

It was a Sunday, so I expect they were probably too short of staff to do so. Perhaps it was half term or something.

Scotland dont really do half terms :P again that is no reason Stagecoach knows megabus and Citylink routes can be extremely busy on Sundays.