People working at height to repair the funicular in Force 12 South Westerlies with gusts of over 100mph recorded at the weather station on the top of Cairn Gorm. It would appear HIE are determined to get the funicular re-opened whatever the health and safety risks.
By Alan Brattey
The funicular railway on Cairn Gorm was returned to service in late January 2023 after having been closed for repairs since October 2018.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) committed £26 million to the work that it had deemed a better option for the future of the CairnGorm Mountain business than removing it.
The eye watering final (?) bill was well in excess of the original budget and additional finance had to be approved and provided by the Scottish Government. Whether HIE will have to repay that with the settlement of the funicular courts cases (see here) is still not clear.
Limited capacity, speed restrictions and a mid-station with two halts, one for the carriage going up and another for the carriage going down, mean the funicular is a poor form of uplift for skiers and non-skiers alike.
The decision to repair funicular in the first place was highly questionable simply because it has never and will never carry anywhere near sufficient passenger numbers to make it financially self-sustaining
In the first 5 years of its operation the funicular carried an annual average of 174,935 passengers and in the 5 years to 2015 it carried an annual average of 124,272 passengers. That’s close to a 30% reduction in passenger numbers and ought to have been a major factor in the repair or removal decision.
Additionally, it was very obvious that the funicular was continually dragging the business down to the extent that there wasn’t any money for the thorough maintenance and upkeep of other infrastructure. An example is the £1.1m that HIE provided for improvements to buildings and uplift when they made the major strategic blunder of hiving the business off to a private operator, Natural Retreats, in 2014. Another, the more recent repair work to the upper Cas car park, which had been allowed to deteriorate into a deplorable state, came in at close to £1 million.
The dilapidations are far from fixed. A simple walk around the Day Lodge and a look at the building and environs will show anyone just how poorly maintained it has all become. HIE/CMSL have said they intend to replace it, eventually, but where will the capital be found to do this?
The average passenger numbers are falling because a ride on the funicular is generally not on the list for tourists who have done it in previous years. Clearly, there are not sufficient numbers of first time tourists in the area each year to keep the funicular passenger numbers high. It might be expected that numbers will continue to gradually decline, making this gross loss-maker even more of a financial burden.
HIE has pushed the line that the CairnGorm Mountain Business is a key driver of the local economy. That is certainly arguable in respect to snow sports but what isn’t arguable is the fact that the funicular itself is most certainly not a key economic driver. It’s has been largely out of service for the last 5 years, during which time Badenoch and Strathspey has continued to be busy and relatively prosperous. Shortages of staff continue to be the major inhibitor on business, not the closure of the funicular.
Politicians bear a major responsibility here. Those closely associated with the funicular should have been well enough informed to know that the funicular was a major loss maker and, if repaired, it would require a considerable public subsidy, into the future.
Even back in December 2000 it was clear that HIE would be continuing to pay for all hardware replacements/renewals into the future. At the time these included: 1. Haul Rope; 2. Counter Rope; 3. Rail; 4. Motor Invertors Control; 5.Electric Motors [2 @ 500Kw]; 6. Standby Generators top; 7. Hydrostatic Drive; 8. Gearbox; 9. Bogie including 3 Track Brakes; 10. Carriage Replacement; 11. Train Control Computer. That list makes it very evident that a public subsidy would be required into the future quite apart from the annual operational losses
We might have expected that a Cabinet Minister, having been so poorly informed at the time that the funicular first went into service, would have ensured that he’ had all the facts in the future. Regrettably, that statement, which should have haunted Fergus Ewing, failed to teach him anything and he bears primary responsibility for inexplicably agreeing the business case (see here) which allowed the funicular repairs to proceed.
The decision to provide further £millions when the repairs considerably overran the budget wasn’t Fergus Ewing’s to make as he had been removed from the Scottish Cabinet by then. The minister in charge was Ivan McKee MSP and to his credit he did question whether the funds should be withheld and the business closed down. However, it probably wasn’t politically expedient to take the hard decision and the go ahead to proceed was given. It would seem likely that it was concluded that stopping the work after many millions had been committed would be seen as a scandal and not something that the Scottish Government was prepared to do. The scandal is much bigger today and how they must wish they could turn the clock back
After re-opening, the funicular was subsequently closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the months of May and June 2023 to enable what were termed as ‘Tidying Up’ works. Alarms bells should have been sounding at St Andrew’s House at that point in time.
On the 26 August 2023 the funicular was suddenly pulled from service right on the cusp of the busiest weekend of the summer season. HIE/CMSL put the closure down to ‘Snagging Works’ and it was to last for a week.