Highlands and Islands Enterprise reveals amount re-allocated to fix Cairngorm funicular
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Highlands and Islands Enterprise has revealed the figure that has been re-allocation from its masterplan budget towards the £25m repair of the Cairngorm funicular.
But the public agency's bosses have said that it will not affect the roll-out of the 25-year vision to transform the Cairngorm Mountain resort into an all-year destination.
HIE said it allocated an additional £2.2m towards funicular re-instatement from within the capital budget announced in October.
They said there was no fixed budget per se for the masterplan.
A spokesperson for HIE said: “HIE is committed to play our part in delivering the Cairngorm masterplan and will appraise future investment proposals in line with our usual procedures.
"Having a dedicated Cairngorm budget has meant that we’ve been able to allocate additional funding towards the funicular re-instatement while still maintaining our commitment to support projects and programmes across the whole of the Highlands and Islands."
The final repair bill for the Cairngorm funicular is expected to be in the region of £25 million – nearly £9 million more than first estimated.
The figure was revealed on Tuesday as one of Scotland’s most complex and challenging civil engineering projects of recent years enters its final stages.
Contractor Balfour Beatty, working on behalf of estate owner Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), is nearing completion of the programme of works required to strengthen the viaduct that supports the two kiometres of track, and is currently demobilising from the mountain.
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HIE said significant cost inflation in the construction sector and the weakness of sterling in international exchange rates have led to the huge hike in the repair costs.
The original projection was £16.16m budgeted as part of a wider capital investment package approved by the HIE board and the Scottish Government in 2020.
Scottish ministers already allocated £7 million additional funding in June, earlier this year.
The original funding package for Cairngorm Mountain entailed the Scottish Government contributing £10.16 million while HIE invested £10.35 million, including £8.5 million from the sale of the Centre for Health Science in Inverness to the University of the Highlands and Islands.
HIE is currently pursuing legal action against the funicular’s original designer and construction contractor in the Court of Session in a bid to recoup public funding.
The spokesman said: “The legal cases are currently in the procedural phase, with a further hearing planned in the Court of Session on December 14.”
The focus of the project now turns to engineers from Swiss company Garaventa/Frey who are installing a new control system to ensure safe operations once the funicular comes back into service early in 2023.
Over the coming weeks they will lay fibre optic cabling and test the system repeatedly in live conditions.
This means that Cairngorm Mountain trains will be running on using the track again for the first time in four years. Testing is expected to continue into December. Safety certificates from the Department for Transport will be required and HIE expects these will be obtained early in the new year.
The funicular carriages also have a new livery with the previous blue Coire and Cas carriages replaced with a light green hue and rebranding.
