Cairngorm Funicular Open
 It's finally open, but will the £15 million development make any difference to you and what does it look like anyway?
Posted: 24 December 2001
by Jon
Well it's finally happened - the controversial Cairngorm Funicular
Railway has opened - on the day before Christmas no less - and the
good (and the bad news) is that the chances are it will make very
little difference to you one way or another.
The railway has been the subject of debate amid accusations that an
economically unviable scheme was being (ahem) railroaded through by
the Highland Council at a cost of £15 million. Of particular
concern to walkers and climbers were initial plans to charge for use
of the popular ski car park at Coire Cas, which gives easy access to
the Northern Corries and to make the road leading to it a clearway,
with no parking.
Fortunately representations from the Mountaineering Council of
Scotland have seen these plans shelved for now, though the Cairngorm
Mountain Company reserves the right to introduce these measures in
the future - in which case you can expect an almighty furore.
Summer tourists will be corralled into a mountain-top enclosure to
prevent environmental damage and the railway cannot be used to access
the mountain. It's hard to believe that the funicular is any more
hideous than the chair lift it replaces or the general air of
despoilation which hangs around ski resorts, but if you want an idea
of what it all looks like, check out this
page.
For detailed background information and a series of reports
covering the development of the project, take a look at the Mountaineering
Council of Scotland pages.
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