Cairngorm funicular railway to shut for maintenance

The UK's highest railway - which reopened in February after extensive repair work - is closing again for essential annual maintenance.

Site operators, Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Ltd, have confirmed the funicular near Aviemore will be out of service for three weeks from 12 May so that inspections and repairs can be carried out.

Balfour Beatty, working for estate owner Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), will use the closure to complete a programme of remediation works on the railway viaduct.

HIE said in a statement that maintenance had been brought forward from November to minimise inconvenience to visitors. The resort will remain open seven days a week while the railway is unavailable.

Opened in 2001 at a cost of £19.5m, the railway connects a base station with a restaurant and a ski area 1,097m (3,599ft) up Cairn Gorm - the UK's sixth highest mountain.

Repairs and strengthening work began in April 2021 following the railway's closure in late 2018.

However, the Covid pandemic, a shortage of materials and bad weather led to rising costs, delaying an earlier reopening.

The complex civil engineering project involved thousands of lifts by helicopter to deliver 800 tonnes of concrete to the site.

Bearings and other components were also replaced.

Engineers had to avoid damaging deep peat. Boulders - which were removed to allow access to the railway - were put back in place with their lichen-covered surfaces the right way up.

The railway reopened to the public in January 2023 following £25m of repairs before it was closed again in August that year due to snagging issues.

The railway returned to service in February this year.

HIE has said upcoming planned annual maintenance works include rail grinding, gearbox repairs, undercarriage lubrication, and testing and inspection of the rail welds.