The line links the city of
Inverness, the largest city in the Scottish Highlands, with the towns of
Wick and
Thurso at the northeastern tip of Britain. Like the
A9 trunk road north of Inverness, the Far North Line broadly follows the east-facing coastline of the
Moray Firth, with all three termini located on the coast. As such, the railway links many of the same places as the road. Many more places were served by both the railway and the road before three new road bridges were built: across the
Beauly Firth (between Inverness and the
Black Isle), the
Cromarty Firth and the
Dornoch Firth. As a result, at some locations the railway is now a long way inland from the modern route of the A9. The railway also loops a long way inland between
Tain and
Golspie, running via
Lairg, which has never been on the A9; it was envisaged at the time of construction that this diversion would open the centre of Sutherland to trade. It also takes a large inland detour north of
Helmsdale, running via the
Flow Country, which the A9 also never passed through; this diversion was dictated by the unfavourable terrain of the Caithness coastline.
Inverness–Tain: through Ross-shire , the southern terminus of the line The railway line begins at
Inverness station, where passenger connections are available for the
Highland Main Line (to
Perth,
Glasgow,
Edinburgh and
London) and the
Aberdeen–Inverness line (to
Inverness Airport,
Elgin and
Aberdeen), as well as for bus services to destinations throughout the
Scottish Highlands. While the
A9 leaves Inverness by crossing the
Beauly Firth on the
Kessock Bridge, the Far North Line instead heads west and runs alongside the Firth. , the shortest on the
National Rail network. The single track crosses both the
River Ness and the
Caledonian Canal before it leaves Inverness and parallels the
A862 road towards the village of
Beauly. After , the line crosses the
River Beauly and then takes a sharp, almost 180° right turn (from a west-southwest heading to north-northeast);
Beauly station is located halfway along this curve. Closed in 1960, the station reopened in 2002 and its single operational platform has the distinction of being the shortest on the
National Rail network, at just . The line then carries on north, crossing the historic county boundary from
Inverness-shire into
Ross and Cromarty just before reaching
Muir of Ord station, which has two platforms and is the site of the first
passing loop on the line. and whose platform is just longer than that at Beauly. Shortly afterwards, the line crosses the
River Conon and passes through the village of
Maryburgh before reaching
Dingwall station – the busiest station on the line aside from Inverness, with just over 80 thousand passengers recorded in the 2019–20 financial year. At Dingwall Junction just north of the station, the
Kyle of Lochalsh line diverges to the west. The Far North Line, meanwhile, rejoins the coast and continues northeast along the shoreline of the Cromarty Firth; the railway meets the A9 again shortly after, at the north end of the
Cromarty Bridge. The next station on the line is , which closed in 1960 but reopened 13 years later. After Alness the line turns gently eastwards to reach
Invergordon station before turning northeast again. The line continues in this direction for nearly without another station until . Located approximately west of
Hill of Fearn, the primary source of traffic at the station, it is also the nearest railway stop to the
Seaboard Villages. The railway then takes a sharp turn to run northwest for approximately until it reaches
Tain station on the south side of the
Dornoch Firth.
Tain–Helmsdale: Lairg loop and the Sutherland coast A short distance west of
Tain, the Far North Line and the A9 part ways again – while the road crosses the
Dornoch Firth by means of
a bridge, the railway line instead follows the coast of the Firth. In fact, the railway does not return to an open coastline for another until
Golspie, even though the distance between Tain and Golspie
as the crow flies is only . There have been many unsuccessful proposals to build a new, shorter railway line between the two villages via
Dornoch, which led to the existing route via
Lairg being sometimes unofficially called the "Lairg loop". Soon after the A9 splits away, the line crosses the
lieutenancy area boundary from
Ross and Cromarty into
Sutherland. The track follows the route of the
A836 until the next station on the line, , at the end of the Dornoch Firth. The station is in the village of
Ardgay and also serves the slightly larger village of
Bonar Bridge on the opposite side of the
Kyle of Sutherland. over the Kyle of Sutherland; the public footpath across the Kyle can be seen immediately adjacent to the viaduct. From Ardgay, the line runs northwards alongside the Kyle, and after just over it reaches the first two
request stops en route – and , which lie on either side of the
Invershin Viaduct over the Kyle. At just , the distance between these two stations is among the shortest in all of Britain. There is no direct road connection between the two sides of the Kyle at this location, and a public footpath was only built alongside the viaduct in 2000; prior to this, the railway was the only way to travel between the two stations without taking a detour via Bonar Bridge. The Kyle once also marked the boundary between the historic counties of
Ross and Cromarty and
Sutherland; however, the modern boundary between the respective
lieutenancy areas lies several miles to the south, putting both stations in modern-day Sutherland. The track then continues northwards along the
River Shin for another until it reaches
Lairg station, located about south of
the village itself. This is the furthest point away from the coast on the Lairg loop; beyond the station the line curves sharply eastwards and heads back towards the Moray Firth along Strath Fleet, now paralleling the
A839 road. The line then passes through another request stop, , which actually lies in the small hamlet of
Pittentrail and about south of
Rogart itself; the station briefly closed in 1960, only to be reopened less than 9 months later. Immediately east of the station there is an
open level crossing both the station and the branch closed in 1960. The railway then turns northeast and returns to the coast at
Golspie, with
the station located at the western end of the village. Just east of Golspie, the line meets
Dunrobin Castle station, which was built as a private, single-platform halt for the
Duke of Sutherland to serve
Dunrobin Castle a short distance south of the track. The station closed in 1965 but reopened in 1985; today, the station is a public request stop, although it is only open during the summer months (one of only two such stations on the National Rail network, alongside elsewhere in Scotland), corresponding to the castle's annual opening times. The station is also notable for its lack of lighting; as such, no trains are scheduled to call at the platform before 9 am or after about 6 pm. The far end of the Strath, close to the point where the A897 meets the
B871 road, marks the location of
Kinbrace station. Beyond Kinbrace, in stark contrast to the rest of the line (and most of the
Scottish Highlands), the topography of the surrounding area becomes flat and low-lying, and will remain so until the railway's two northern termini. The line carries on northwards alongside the A897 for until it reaches
Forsinard station which, despite its isolation, is not a request stop. At Georgemas Junction, which is not a request stop, the lines to
Thurso and
Wick diverge; this is the northernmost railway junction in the United Kingdom. The Wick-facing Thurso branch curves north immediately west of the station and runs alongside the
River Thurso, paralleling the A9 until it reaches
Thurso station – the northernmost railway station in Britain, by the northern coast of Scotland. Thurso is the nearest station to the ferry terminal at
Scrabster, which has
ferry services to and from the town of
Stromness in the
Orkney Islands. Meanwhile, the main line to Wick continues in an east-southeasterly direction, sandwiched between the
A882 and B874 roads, and terminates at
Wick station on the east coast. At , the distance between Georgemas Junction and Wick is the longest between any two adjacent stations on the line, although three other stations existed along this stretch until 1960. Wick is the nearest station to
Wick Airport as well as to the village of
John o' Groats (approximately to the north) at the northeastern tip of mainland Britain, which is linked to the town by a bus service operated by
Stagecoach Highlands. ==Infrastructure==