The Cairngorm mountain railway will return to service tomorrow after repairs were completed over a year later than planned.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) say the funicular is safe to run again and all necessary safety tests have been carried out.
Campaigners opposed to the funicular have cast doubts over its future and have even warned the structure is “inherently flawed”.
An initial round of repairs which was completed in January 2023 cost the taxpayer £25 million, much more than originally promised.
The UK’s highest mountain railway only spent seven months in service again before being taken out of action for further works.
Mountain bosses originally said it would be the “worst-case scenario” if the funicular was not running before the 2023 winter season began.
Yet another deadline to finish all repairs by the following Christmas was missed.
Last week First Minister John Swinney stonewalled calls for an inquiry into the handling of the “fiasco” which has cost taxpayers millions.
He told MSPs he had “total confidence” in HIE after Highlands and Islands Tory MSP Edward Mountain called for a change in management.
Tim Hurst, interim CEO of the Cairngorm Mountain resort, said: “The team are overjoyed to be welcoming customers onto the funicular railway once more.
“Following confirmation from our parent company Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the railway has been handed over to us to operate once more.”
The repairs were carried out by construction firm Balfour Beatty.
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