Exclusive:'Hogwarts Express' Jacobite steam train operator agrees to safety move amid uncertainty over service's future

The offer could lead to the end of a protracted dispute which has put the future of the service on the Fort William-Mallaig line featured in the Harry Potter films in doubt.

Tickets for this year’s season, which are normally available by now, have yet to go on sale, six weeks before its expected start around Easter.

A message on the service’s website stated: “Bookings for the Jacobite 2026 will open in the coming weeks. Please check back for more details.”

However, a printed Jacobite poster at Fort William station states that 2026 services would start on April 1 and continue until October 23.

The date on the poster was subsequently taped over.

It said the service would run at 10.15am daily from Fort William, but passengers should check the website for details of the afternoon service.

West Coast Railways has stalled on fitting carriages with central door locking (CDL) - which is standard on other passenger trains - over its cost and because it claims stewards guarding the doors is just as safe.

However, spot checks by safety regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in 2023 are understood to have found they weren’t in place on the Jacobite, triggering temporary bans on the service operating.

Later that year, West Coast Railways lost a High Court challenge to the ORR’s long-standing directive requiring heritage rail operators to fit CDL on old-fashioned hinged “slam door” carriages to prevent passengers falling out.

The firm then applied for an exemption from the regulation in 2024, which was rejected by the ORR.

A new application has now been lodged by an associated company, which would cover the Jacobite, to permit the West Highland service to continue while CDL is installed over several years.

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Jacobite executives said they were waiting to see the progress of the application before deciding on this year’s services, although the ORR said it could take four months to assess.

That could delay the start of the season, or services being run like last year’s, in which non-compliant carriages with their doors kept locked were hitched to carriages with CDL installed to enable passengers to board and alight.

There has also been speculation that the twice-daily service may be reduced to one.

Passengers were angered last year when blue ex-British Rail Inter-City coaches were used for the service when hot weather triggered extra maintenance on the normal red carriages and there were insufficient spares with CDL to replace them.

West Coast Railways commercial manager James Shuttleworth told The Scotsman: “We have conceded we are going to have to fit CDL and are reasonably optimistic of reaching an accord.”

He said the Jacobite would run, but would not say when services would start.

Mr Shuttleworth has been approached for clarification over the Fort William station poster.

READ MORE: ‘Threat’ to Harry Potter ‘Hogwarts Express’ Jacobite steam train: What was all that about?

Local businesses said the uncertainty was causing “challenges” as the Jacobite brought large numbers of people to Mallaig.

Road to the Isles Marketing Group chair Sine Davis said: “Key decisions on staffing, stock levels and planning for the months ahead all rely on having clear, timely information.

“Without confirmed timetables, capacity details or operating arrangements, businesses are effectively planning in the dark, making difficult decisions without the clarity they depend on.”

The group pointed out that ScotRail’s trains were an alternative way for visitors to enjoy views from the rail line.

An ORR spokesperson said: “We have not received an application from West Coast Railways. We are assessing an application for an exemption from Regulation 5 of the Railway Safety Regulations 1999 submitted by another company in the same ownership group.”

The ORR said applications for exemption “must demonstrate either that equivalent risk controls to CDL are in place or that a time-bound programme of work is in hand for fitment of CDL.

“Where an exemption is granted on the basis of CDL being fitted, a train operator may run the vehicles under the exemption so long as other methods of secondary door locking are in place and being operated effectively in the meantime.”