Mountain has fingers-crossed for re-opening of Cairngorm funicular this winter
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Highlands and Islands MSP, Edward Mountain has said its “fingers crossed” for the Cairngorm funicular to re-open on its current schedule for winter 2022/23.
The Scottish Conservative regional MSP today met with officials from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, owners and the operating company for the resort, before having a site visit with Balfour Beatty to view the ongoing repair works.
Mr Mountain MSP said afterwards: “I would like to thank HIE and Balfour Beatty for facilitating my visit to see the progress on the repair works for the Funicular.
“HIE is hoping that the repair works can be completed to schedule but that will be dependent on fair weather conditions and having no supply issues for construction materials.
"So it is fingers crossed for a winter re-opening for the funicular at this stage.
“I am still unclear on the final cost for what are extremely complicated works that are being skilfully completed by Balfour Beatty.
“The initial budget for the repairs was around £16m and the total spend by June of this year was £14.7m.
"So the project is not far away from running over its original budget and I would not be surprised if the final cost rises by 30 per cent to 50 per cent due to the additional repairs and inflationary pressures.
“Once the repairs are complete I believe more progress should be made on rolling out the rest of the masterplan for the resort such as improving the Day Lodge.
"It’s also time for an integrated transport strategy to be created for the Cairngorm National Park, including access to the mountain.
“Looking further ahead, I believe more work is needed on identifying who will operate the resort so it can reach its full potential.
"I’ve always been clear that HIE should not be the landlord, the landlord’s agent and the operator all at once.”
