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Cairngorm mountain railway: One year after latest closure, will train be back for winter?

Campaigners and residents in Aviemore are growing increasingly frustrated as repairs drag on with no end in sight.

The funicular operating amidst the vast backdrop of the Cairngorms.
The funicular railway has been plagued with problems. Image supplied.

The Cairngorm mountain railway is just months away from being out of action for another winter, one year after it was shut again for yet more repairs.

Question marks linger over the future of the troubled funicular as Aviemore businesses warn of “untold” damage being done to the local economy.

Will the struggling structure be open for snow sports and tourism by the new year, or is there a risk it could be end up being scrapped for good?

That’s a lot ‘snagging’

Scotland’s highest altitude railway returned to service in January 2023 after £25 million was spent fixing it over nearly five years.

Yet by August the funicular was closed for additional “snagging works”.

repairs being done on the Cairngorm funicular railway
The funicular was closed for four years while repairs were carried out. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) – who are responsible for it – initially hoped it would be back up and running weeks later.

That goal now seems like a distant dream.

The agency is still unable to give any definite timescale for when the funicular will be fixed, a full year after the latest closure.

Relaunch goal

A spokesperson said HIE “continue to aim” to have the railway operating again for when demand is high during winter.

They added: “The goal is still to relaunch the funicular in time for the snowsports season.”

Campaigner Gordon Bulloch, who lives near the mountain resort in Grantown-on-Spey, has been a critic of the funicular.

Gordon Bulloch believes the funicular should be removed.

“We still have no clear idea of when the funicular might reopen,” he said.

“We are being treated like mushrooms with story after story about the problems and a veil of fog over what really has gone wrong.”

Is the closure hurting Aviemore?

HIE says the Cairngorm mountain resort plays an important role supporting Aviemore’s local economy.

If that’s the case, is the debacle surrounding the funicular hurting the Highland town?

Mr Bulloch said HIE’s claim is “nonsense”, given plenty of tourists continue to visit Aviemore.

David Farquharson, who runs the Glenshee resort on the other side of the national park, said: “Aviemore’s busier than it’s ever been. It’s absolutely mobbed whenever you go there.”

Glenshee operates on the Aberdeenshire side of the mountains. Image: Kris Miller/DC Thomson

But not everyone agrees, even if the town still attracts plenty of visitors.

Karen Ross, manager of The Winking Owl, an Aviemore pub, said uncertainty around the funicular harms businesses.

“It’s untold the damaging that we will be doing,” she said. “It’s devastating.”

The Winking Owl bar in Aviemore, managed by Karen Ross.

She told us: “That was a major attraction of the area.

“It’s awful to not have certainty. We end up having far too many staff in the winter months.”

Another business owner in the town claimed the impact had not been too noticeable so far because snow in recent years has been poor.

They told us: “If we had a really good winter, it would have a big impact. It’s not affecting summer trade.”

Is there a chance the funicular won’t reopen?

Conditions can be perfect but snow is not always certain for snow sports. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

HIE insists decommissioning the funicular and replacing it with an alternative gondola or chairlift would cost even more.

Yet questions remain about where cash will come from to repair the railway if it keeps breaking down.

HIE says construction firm Balfour Beatty continues to fund the repairs.

‘Money won’t last forever’

The agency was bolstered after winning £11 million in a legal dispute against the firm who originally designed the funicular.

But that money won’t last forever – and in the meantime the railway has hardly been opened for almost six years.

Mr Bulloch isn’t entirely certain the latest round of works will ever be completed.

“I think that it is very possible that the structural problems will result in the funicular never reopening,” he said.

Former SNP minister Fergus Ewing. Image: PA.

Not everyone is so pessimistic.

Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing, who was the SNP’s rural economy and tourism chief when repairs were approved, said: “The funicular is being repaired.

“This takes time. It is, after all, located on the most difficult construction site in the UK.”

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