Campaigners have vowed to continue the fight to re-open a disused Highland rail facility.
The station at Evanton, in Ross-shire, shut down in the 1960s at a time of a sweeping rail closures across the country through the Beeching Report, which predicted a massive shift towards transport by road.
Its re-opening was first mooted back in 2003 and was given fresh impetus in recent months when it was suggested that a daily rail service between the village and Inverness could alleviate road traffic pressure on the approaches to the city centre.
The proposal is backed by both Highland Council and the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership.
However, the prospects of it re-opening were dealt a significant blow at the end of last month when Transport Scotland refused – for the second time — funding for a £15,000 feasibility study.
An application was made to the Local Rail Development Fund which, if it had been successful, would have assessed the potential for the re-development of Evanton rail station and the costs involved.
A Transport Scotland spokesman refused to go into details as to why the application was turned down, saying “responsibility to demonstrate the need for new stations lies with the relevant promoter”.
However, campaigners remained unbowed.
Local councillor Michael Finlayson, who lives in Evanton and who has been closely involved in the campaign from the outset, said that they remain confident of success.
He said a local survey of the population resulted in 700 responses, all in favour of the proposal, while they also hope a resurrected rail service would tap into the significant tourism potential, with the station just a few miles away from the popular cruise ship destination of Invergordon.
“This really needs to be addressed by Transport Scotland,” he said, “they are responsible for rail development.
“We knew this was not going to happen overnight, but we’re still hopeful. There’s an officer in Highland Council who’s pursuing the matter. We’ve applied twice and haven’t been successful but we will continue with it and we’re determined to keep going.”
