The first station was opened on 7 August 1894 by the West Highland Railway which was later absorbed by the North British Railway. It was sited further west of the present station on what is now the A82 town by-pass alongside Loch Linnhe at Station Square, at the time in close proximity to then location of the former Caledonian MacBraynebus station. The old station was a stone built construction featuring a turret and a double arched entranceway and had three platforms. It closed on 9 June 1975 and was demolished immediately afterwards to permit construction of the bypass. The present Fort William station of grey concrete construction was opened on 13 June 1975. The current station lies in the shadow of Ben Nevis. The station is on the West Highland Line and the starting point for The Jacobite, a steam locomotive hauled passenger service to Mallaig. Refurbishment of the facilities at Fort William railway station was completed in 2007 thanks to a £750,000 investment. The refurbishment includes new shower facilities and refurbished toilets. The shower facilities include two showers for ladies, two for gentlemen and one unisex shower facility for disabled people.
Services
As of the summer 2019 timetable, Fort William has three daytime trains per day in each direction on Mondays to Saturdays, running between and. There is also a daily early morning service to Mallaig that starts at Fort William, with a similar return service in the evening. The Caledonian Sleeper operates six nights per week from, starting/terminating at Fort William. The sleeper also carries seated coaches and can thus be used as a regular service train to/from Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley. The regular Sunday service consists of two train per day each way between Glasgow and Mallaig, with the schedule in the peak season supplemented by one service between Fort William and Mallaig. The Jacobite operates between Fort William and Mallaig, only stopping at. This runs through the summer until late October, with a maximum of two trains per day Monday to Saturday and one on Sunday in the high season. A reduced Jacobite timetable is operated later in the summer.
