Concerns have been raised about the distance between the new Inverness Airport rail stop and the terminal.
The £42million Inverness Airport Train Station opened last week.
But already there have been complaints about the half-a-mile distance between the station to the terminal, and the waiting times for a bus.
Councillor Duncan Macpherson walked the route this week, and said it took him 16 minutes plus.
Others have also chosen to walk instead of waiting 30-minutes for a bus.
Mr Macpherson said he made his walk last weekend and recorded it on his smart watch.
He said: “It was good to see the new transport hub in operation this evening, with passengers arriving by train and getting the bus to the airport terminal building.
“Others, when they saw it was up to a 30 minute wait for a bus, opted to walk along the footpath with its low level lighting all the way.
“I decided to walk the footpath, to measure the distance and to check on the time required to cover the distance between railway station and airport terminal building.
“The distance walking along the footpath to the Airport Terminal building is 0.85 miles and involved walking into the prevailing wind along with a hotel worker who was heading for the new airport Marriott Hotel, the journey took us 16.58 minutes.
Take the bus
He said the return journey was slightly faster as the wind was behind him, so took between 10 to 12 minutes.
“Thankfully the passenger I was walking with managed to catch the train into Inverness. That made sure he got his transfer to the Caledonian Sleeper train, to reach London the following morning,” he added.
Why has it been built so far from the airport?
The railway station has been built onto the existing Inverness-Aberdeen rail line.
A plan to replace the passenger terminal at Inverness Airport with a new building situated far closer to the railway station is being considered by its operator, Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial).
It is one of four options for expanding the terminal to meet forecast growth in customer numbers under consideration by Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial).
Mr Macpherson continued: “Many people have commented on my post, some saying why would they pay for a train from the city centre to the train station when it is £20 for a taxi straight to the door?
“Another man pointed out that the airport’s own masterplan said the airport needed shuttle transport’.
He added: Many are saying the more attractive option is to just drive to the airport.”
“Others are saying that taking a bus from the city centre would be the most cost effective, and hassle free, way to get to the door of the airport terminal.
Other issues that were highlighted to Mr Macpherson was that the walk was fine on a dry day – but would be harder on a wet or windy day.
A young mum wrote on Mr Macpherson’s Facebook page to say: “I live in Tornagrain and walked to the station and then to the airport and all the way back to Tornagrain.
“I wouldn’t want to do the walk if I had a suitcase! Was also disappointing that one of the lifts was already out of service.
“Thankfully a kind man on the platform helped me carry my pram down the stairs over the line.”
A ScotRail spokeswoman said the lift had been out of order briefly. She said: “There was a short-term issue with the lift on Tuesday. This was caused by dirt and grit getting into the lift mechanism. It was resolved quickly and the lifts are working as normal.”
Frank Roach, from HiTrans, said: “The bus is a half-hourly service and not a shuttle bus, but a service buses that call in.
“It is impossible to fully coordinate bus train and flight times but half-hourly buses certainly help, as waiting times are minimised.
He added: “Re-siting the terminal to beside the railway is one of the four options currently under consideration.”
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