Cairngorm funicular pilot to give walkers direct access to 1,245m summit for first time in 24 years

They are banned from leaving the top station building to protect the fragile summit environment and its protected species, other than to access the ski area along with skiers and snowboarders, or for guided ranger walks.

However, this could be relaxed under a planned trial in the Cairngorms National Park resort in which walkers would be tracked using a pocket device.

The 1,245m summit, 148m above the funicular’s top station, is home to two of the UK’s rarest birds - dotterel and ptarmigan.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (Hie), which owns the funicular, wants to attract more walkers. It is working on the potential pilot with Highland Council, the Cairngorm National Park Authority and Nature Scot that could lead to the restriction being lifted.

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In a submission to the Scottish Parliament’s public audit committee, the body said: “The visitor management plan, which was a condition of planning approval for the funicular, has proven effective in protecting the sensitive natural environment around the plateau and has evolved over the years to enable access with guided ranger walks.

“Proposals to amend restrictions further through the use of app-based solutions and movement tracking technology are currently being explored and may be trialled to establish their effectiveness in enabling greater access while continuing to ensure environmental protection.”

The agency told MSPs that a “case study” was being devised to track walkers’ movements.

Chief executive Stuart Black said: “There was a concern that people would get up to the top of the funicular and go out onto the high plateau, which is where the protected species are.

“You are allowed out in winter for skiing, but summer visitors are not allowed out. You can walk to the top [from the bottom of the funicular] and get the funicular down, but you can’t do the opposite. We are trying to do something about that.”

Mike Gifford, chief executive of Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland), which runs the 1.2-mile-long funicular for Hie, told the committee it would be done “in a very sensitive manner”.

He said: “We are investing in technology to do a case study. We are going to give people devices that go in their pocket and we can track/watch them going from the top station up to the summit and back down, hopefully using the paths.

“If we can make that case and people aren’t disappearing off the plateau, we could get to a position where we could start opening up the top of the mountain. That’s the position I would like to get to.”

Reform MSP and committee member Graham Simpson said: “It’s a very odd situation - you need to tackle that.”

The funicular re-opened in February after the latest of a series of extensive repairs, followed by a further three-week closure in May. It will also be closed for three days next week and again in November, including to complete “final remediation issues”.

The line was previously shut for major work from 2018 to January 2023 after a routine inspection raised safety concerns over the strength of the viaduct. It carries an average of nearly 133,000 passengers a year.