New safety concerns close Cairngorm funicular for several weeks
The Cairngorm funicular railway has stopped operating as a safety precaution while further investigations are carried out into new concerns raised in a recent routine inspection.
The concerns relate to structures supporting the track and the £20m attraction will be out of action for several weeks at least.
These were identified in the latest summer safety inspection but the full findings and nature of the problem have not yet been made available by the owners.
Engineers have recommended a reduced service be implemented until this is investigated fully and any remedial work carried out.
They further recommended a number of operation limiting procedures including temperature, windspeed and the load on the train.
This is a new problem further to the one revealed in the Strathy last week.
Cairngorm Estate, including the funicular, is owned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and they said the crack in the concrete beam was fixed last Autumn.
This latest problem has been identified at the base of the concrete pillars carrying the two kilometre track but no more is known about it at this time nor the scale of the issue.
The resort and its infrastructure is leased and run by commercial operator, CairnGorm Mountain Limited (CML).
HIE and CML have commissioned specialist engineers to carry out a detailed structural assessment of the area of concern.
This will specify what work is needed to bring the funicular back into operation.
The investigation will last several weeks during which the funicular will remain closed.
The work will include excavation to enable the inspection of foundations around the area of concern.
The extended period of closure of the funicular will cause inconvenience for people using the facility.
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It will also have serious implications for CML’s commercial operation of the business, as the funicular is the integral part of the visitor experience throughout the year.
Ewan Kearney, Chief Operating Officer at CairnGorm Mountain, said: "As operators of such a unique visitor attraction as the funicular, we take our responsibility and duty of care to the public and our staff extremely seriously.
"It is in everybody’s best interests to close the funicular to allow the engineers to conduct their investigation.
"Our priority is to get a clear picture of any faults with the funicular in order to develop a course of action that addresses these concerns.
"Rest assured, we do not underestimate the significance of this situation to the entire local area, including our own employees, and are working to resolve this situation quickly and safely, for the future benefit of all mountain visitors.
"At this stage, we are unable to provide a detailed timeline for the re-opening of the funicular and will issue further updates as we are able to do so."
Susan Smith, HIE’s head of business development, said: "This is a highly regrettable situation, over which we have very limited control.
"Clearly it will have a considerable impact on the commercial operations on Cairngorm, and be of concern to those employed at the resort. Our thoughts are very much with them as well as those who use the mountain and its facilities.
"We are treating this as extremely urgent and doing all we can to address the problem and have the funicular returned to full service as quickly as possible.
"In the meantime, safety must come first and we fully respect CML’s decision to act on the precautionary advice of the inspectors."
The findings of the detailed investigations are expected in November.
This should also confirm what remedial work is necessary and how long that is likely to take to complete.
The report on the 2018 routine inspection of the Cairngorm Funicular was delivered to CML on August 28 and copied to HIE on 3 September.
Restrictions to funicular service were introduced on September 5 and on September 10, specialist contractor COWI, was appointed to carry out the detailed investigation, which is now under way.
Every year following the winter season specialist engineering company, ADAC, carries out a detailed inspection of the Ffunicular railway.
Last year this identified a serious issue with one of the beams - as reported in last week’s Strathy – the repair of which was completed last September.
