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Repairs to begin on Cairngorm funicular

Getty Images The funicular has been closed for two yearsGetty Images
The funicular has been closed for two years

Repairs to the UK's highest railway are to begin this week.

The Cairngorm funicular has been closed since September 2018 due to structural problems.

The Scottish government has provided £16m towards the cost of fixing the railway owned by public body Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

The funicular connects a base station with a restaurant and a ski area 1,097m (3,599ft) up Cairn Gorm mountain near Aviemore.

HIE, which also owns the ski centre, secured planning permission for the repairs from the Cairngorm National Park Authority earlier this year and Scottish government funding last month.

HIE Cairngorm funicularHIE
The funicular connects a base station with a restaurant and a ski area

The Scottish government said the cost of removing the railway and reinstating the mountainside was estimated to cost about £17m.

Contractors, engineering firm Balfour Beatty, carried out some preparatory works during the last week of October, including marking out areas designated for environmental protection during the construction period.

This week the company will excavate areas around four of the 94 piers that support the structure. Local civil engineering company McGowan is supplying equipment.