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Glasgow to Oban by train
How to make the fabulous train journey from Glasgow to Oban
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Routes
From Glasgow Queen Street to Oban
Journey Summary
3hr 3min - 3hr 7min
Daily
Travel Information
Two trains are usually joined together on departure from Glasgow, the front train will be heading to Oban and the rear train will be the train travelling to Mallaig via Fort William.
Final destination: Oban
All trains also call at: Arrochar & Tarbet; Crianlarich; Taynult; Connel Ferry (the Cal Mac ferries to the Inner Hebrides don't leave from here).
Mon - Sat = 6 x trains per day
Sunday = 3 x trains
Tickets
Book Early and Save: Yes
Online Bookings Usually Open: from 12 weeks ahead of the travel date (usually)
If you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, look for the 'Advance tickets', though the three key things worth knowing about booking and using 'Advance' tickets are:
(1) You can only travel on the specific departure you select when making a booking.
(2) The ticket(s) cannot either be refunded, if you subsequently change your plans, or be exchanged to another departure,
(3) These tickets have seats specified on them, so in effect they come with seat reservations - though you won't have to sit in the seats you have been assigned for the ticket to be valid.
Travelling on Saturday-Sunday
Tickets are usually available 12 weeks ahead of the travel date, but maintenance work on the route is periodically undertaken at weekends and if it is scheduled on your travel date, it can affect when tickets will be released for sale.
If you're looking up a journey less than 12 weeks ahead and Advance tickets aren't available, it can be a good indication that works will be impacting on your travel date.
It can be worth checking this on the National Rail website - enter ScotRail as the operator.
Booking at the station
If you will be booking at the station less than a couple of hours prior to departure, you will have to purchase non-discounted Off-Peak or Anytime tickets - with Anytime tickets being the most expensive of all.
Deals and Offers
ScotRail offers ticketing deals when Adults travel with children or in groups, so when booking online it's worth checking to confirm whether the total price being charged is inclusive of these deals.
Or you can book these deals at a station ticket office. If Advance tickets are available the booking clerk will ask if that's your preference, though be aware that Advance deals can't be refunded or exchanged if one or more members of a party subsequently can't make the trip.
If you do opt to book these deals at the station you won't ever charged more than the online price and the booking clerk may be able to point out a money saving option.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| ScotRail | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
To make the most of the train journey from Glasgow to Oban ShowMeTheJourney's recommendation is to be at Queen Street station, ready to board, a minimum of 20 - 30 minutes before departure.
You can then be among the first passengers to step on to the train and seek out spare window seats on the left-hand side; as the overwhelming majority of the best views during the journey can be appreciated from that side of the train.
Ignore your seat reservations when you first board, because you may have been assigned seats on the right-hand side; and by the time you have found your seats, the optimum seats over on the left may have been occupied.
The ultimate travel experience when taking the train to Oban, is to have a table seat by the windows on the left, but most of the seats on the train aren't at tables.
The table seats line up with the windows, so they have the best views, which is why such seats on the left are worth seeking out.
The unreserved seats don't have paper labels stuck on them.
You won't have to sit in the seat(s) you have been assigned for your ticket to be valid.
If you've struck lucky and found such seats, you can then take a look as to where your reserved seats are located, if they happen to be the same type of seat, by the table, on the left, then you should move to them instead; it will stop other passengers from assuming that they're not available.
Though particularly in the summer months these can be fairly busy trains, so on Fridays and Saturdays you may be grateful to have assigned seats, even if they happen to be over on the right.
Step on board for a stunning train ride along the the West Highland Line.
Around 25 minutes into the journey, after the train has departed from Dalmuir (where connections are available with trains from Glasgow Central), the railway begins to travel along the north bank of The Clyde Estuary.
The train wll spend around 20 minutes travelling by the river until it arrives in Helensburgh.
Between Helensburgh and Arrochar & Tarbet there are spectacular views on the left down over two sea lochs; Loch Gare followed by Loch Long.
Between Arroacher & Tarbet and Ardlui, Loch Lommond is over to the right, though the railway is set back from shore, so for most of this part of the journey, the loch can only be glimpsed through the trees.
Since leaving Arroacher & Tarbet the train will have been travelling through the Loch Lomond and Trossachs national park and between Adrlui and Tyndrum it is the hills of The Trossachs which surround the train.
ShowMeTheJourney has to own up to the fact that I've yet to experience the part of the journey on from Tyndrum to Oban, but I'm 100% certain that it will be wonderful
After Tyndrum, for the final part of the journey from there to Oban, the best of the views are again on the left.
From that side of the train there will be views over Lochan na Bi and then after Dalmeny the railway is by the shore of stunning Loch Awe.
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This is one of more than 1000 journey guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
