WORK to prepare the Cairngorm funicular railway to return to service has begun after being closed for almost two years.
Cairngorm Mountain staff have begun a series of maintenance procedures on the electrical, mechanical and hydraulic systems that are tasked with moving the two funicular carriages along the 1.8km viaduct.
An engineer from Swiss funicular specialist Garaventa is reportedly joining the team of locals to carry out the scheduled annual inspection of the mechanical systems.
Garaventa supplies and maintains the carriages along with its control system.
During the maintenance work the trains are expected to complete trial runs on the mountainside in the coming weeks.
Work on the viaduct structure is also set to continue and will be led by infrastructure specialists Balfour Beatty on behalf of mountain estate owner Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
Although the structural work was said to have been completed before Christmas, teams from Balfour Beatty returned to the site early in January, as inspections identified a range of issues requiring further work.
The Cairngorm funicular is the highest railway in the UK and reopened in January 2023 after four years of repairs costing around £25 million.
However, it was closed again in August of the same year. HIE said it continues to aim for the funicular to be safely back in service as soon as possible.
It added that it aims for the funicular to be reopened by the current winter season and will provide a relaunch date once it can confirm it will be fully operational.
