A village is edging ever closer to a long-awaited re-opening of its mothballed train station, but will still have to wait a year longer than the original date.
The Scottish Government has now given its approval for the compulsory purchase of land for the new station at Kintore by Aberdeenshire council.
That had been one reason for the delay.
A land ownership issue led to the compulsory purchase order by the authority, which now has the full approval to steam ahead with submitting building plans.
Another delay has been due to the pushed-back timing of the line improvements between Aberdeen and Inverness.
The council will use the land to provide car parking and other facilities for the new railway station.
The news has been welcomed by East Garioch councillor Martin Ford, who last night said: “I am pleased to hear that this essential stage has now been completed. For the station to be built, a number of requirements have to be met, one being the land for the construction which is now assured.
“Another is funding, which is already in place, and the next stage will be the planning application.”
The station was closed in 1964, but there has been increasing pressure since for it to be restored.
Delays to the Aberdeen to Inverness line upgrades mean that the opening of the £12.2million station has been shunted back by 12 months from the original date of December 2018 to December 2019.
Mr Ford explained that there was an “obvious sense” of coinciding the on-going line upgrades between Aberdeen and Inverness with the re-instatement of the station, adding: “It makes sense to do the two things together, and because the line upgrade has been pushed back, it means in turn the station work will also fall back.
“The most recent briefing that I have had from Network Rail is that intention is now that the same period of line closure will be used to build both Kintore station and the new bridge required over the Don at Inverurie.”
The government earlier this year confirmed it will provide £7million towards the project.
The remaining cost will be paid for by Aberdeenshire Council and North East Regional Transport Partnership (Nestrans).
Councillor Peter Argyle, who is chair of Nestrans and deputy leader of the council, said: “The future development of the new station, car park and transport interchange facilities are of very significant importance, not only for Kintore and the surrounding area, but also for the Aberdeen-Inverness rail improvement project.
“It’s a hugely positive step and Nestrans and Aberdeenshire Council are looking forward to working with our partners Network Rail and Transport Scotland to see the project completed.”