Investment in Inverness Rail Stop
Dalcross Railway Station Today, Graphic © Cycling Scot
The Scottish government has announced funding to help towards the cost of building a railway station near Inverness Airport. £3.34m has been allocated to the planned stop at an existing railway station located at Dalcross, to the east of Inverness, Scotland. The station originally opened in 1855 but closed in 1965. While it is operating again it is unsuitable for modern rolling stock. A new station in Dalcross was proposed some time ago, and is currently projected to open in 2019 with direct connections to Inverness airport which is nearby (Graphic of Inverness Airport via Wikimedia Commons ). A £170 million infrastructure upgrade project for the line, funded by Transport Scotland, was announced in 2014 for improvement for the Inverness-Aberdeen line and is scheduled to start shortly.
In a separate announcement, the government has said a new group is to co-ordinate efforts to improve services on the Highlands' Far North Line.
It connects Inverness to Wick and Thurso further north. (Graphic of Thurso station © OLU via Wikimedia Commons. There has been criticism of the performance of services on this line.
A station at Dalcross close to the airport has been a long standing aspiration of Hitrans, which promotes improvements to public transport in the Highlands.
It has proposed constructing the station on the Inverness to Aberdeen line.
Earlier this year, Hitrans said it could be open in 2018, if planning permission and funding are secured, and constructed at an estimated cost of £2m.
Please give me whatever feedback comes to mind via david@rampantscotland.com.
David
February 2017
Return to News and Views Index
