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Harry Potter fans told to stay off tracks after 'Hogwarts Express' returns

Getty Images The Jacobite steam locomotive puffs along the track at the Glenfinnan Viaduct. The locomotive is hauling a train of claret-coloured carriages, white smoke rising from its funnel. The scene is set in a landscape of hills and moorland.Getty Images
The Jacobite steam train appeared as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films

Harry Potter fans and other tourists have been warned against wandering on to the tracks at an iconic railway viaduct to get a better view of a steam train famous for its role in the boy wizard movies.

West Coast Railways' (WRC) latest Jacobite season started last month following a delay caused by a row over the type of carriages the locomotive hauls.

WRC hoped to use its old-style Mark 1 carriages, but is operating with more modern Mark 2 carriages which have a door-locking system required by a rail safety regulator.

Following previous problems with trespassing, Network Rail Scotland has urged visitors to Glenfinnan Viaduct - which also appears in the films - to follow signage and to stay clear of the railway.

The Jacobite was used as the Hogwarts Express in the film adaptations of author JK Rowling's Harry Potter stories.

ScotRail services and other trains also travel across the viaduct.

The Glenfinnan area, near Fort William, gets more than 600,000 visitors a year, according to the National Trust for Scotland.

Network Rail Scotland said large crowds of people often gathered near the viaduct to see the Jacobite steam train.

Route crime manager Neil Cook said there were dedicated viewing spots at the site.

He said: "The Jacobite steam train's journey over Glenfinnan Viaduct is a magical sight but it's not worth risking your life for.

"Too often, we receive reports of dangerous behaviour, with people climbing fences, standing on the railway, or walking along the track to try to get closer."

Cook added: "Trespassing on the railway is illegal and puts lives at serious risk.

"Trains can come from either direction, are quieter than people expect, and can't stop quickly."

Getty Images The people are sitting on an area of bare ground on the hillside. The viaduct is a long bridge-like structure made up of a series of arches. The viaduct is set in a Highland landscape of hills, moorland and woods.Getty Images
Visitors gathered on a hillside above the Glenfinnan Viaduct in a picture taken in 2024

Previous incidents at the viaduct have included a couple and child on the tracks in 2015.

Train drivers and Network Rail staff also reported seeing two men on the line taking photographs and a group of hillwalkers "wandering casually" on the line between Glenfinnan and Arisaig.

In 2012, a steam train driver was forced to brake on the viaduct after spotting two older women standing dangerously close to the line.

The driver also reported narrowly missing a man who had been standing on the railway with a camera tripod in the same incident.