Business help offer after closure of Cairngorms funicular

Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Highland Council have offered support to businesses affected by the closure of the Cairngorms' funicular railway.

The UK's highest railway has been closed due to problems with the structure supporting the tracks.

Thousands of visitors to Aviemore, and the surrounding area, use the funicular to reach a mountainside restaurant and snowsports areas.

The support offered includes advice on potential loan funding.

Engineers are investigating the problem affecting the funicular.

Their findings will not be known until November and railway will remain closed during that time.

Built at a cost of £26m and opened in 2001, the railway connects a base station with a restaurant 1,097m (3,599ft) up Cairn Gorm mountain.

Thousands of people use it, including skiers and snowboarders during the ski season to access slopes. Many of these visitors also spend time in and around Aviemore.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) owns the funicular and the CairnGorm Mountain snowsports centre.

It said said it was working with the the site's operator, Natural Retreats, in "actively exploring all options" to have the centre ready to offer the "best possible" winter season without the funicular.

A key component of the plan will be the potential use of snow-making equipment at lower levels.

HIE said these levels would be offered to beginners, helping to reduce congestion at other areas.

Highland Council's convener, Bill Lobban, said "positive" steps were being taken to help businesses.

He said: "We all agree that snowsports play a vital role in the economy of Aviemore and the wider Badenoch and Strathspey area, and it is in the whole community's interest that CairnGorm is a successful attraction."

Ewan Kearney, of Natural Retreats, said: "There is no doubt that this is going to be a challenging season,

"But we have operated for skiing without the funicular in prior winters and are confident that with additional planning and resource we will be able to continue to offer great skiing this winter as well."

HIE's chief executive, Charlotte Wright, said there was a "strong appetite" among the various organisations and wider community to work towards making the area "a leading centre" for snowsports.