Councillors have agreed to invest £100,000 to support a bid for a new rail station at Inverness Airport.
As well as the airport, the station on the Inverness to Aberdeen line would serve the nearby business park and new housing development at Tornagrain.
The final bill for the project is expected to be up to £2.25million, with an additional funding bid to be submitted to the Scottish Stations Fund by Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (Hitrans).
It was among several projects to receive financial backing from Highland Council’s Carbon Clever budget this week.
Councillors also agreed to allocate £55,000 to match Hitrans funding for installing real time bus stop displays across the area.
These displays offer live information at the bus stop on when services are due to arrive.
The local authority will also be trialling the use of “Telly Talk” with a £27,775 investment.
This small scale pilot project will enable people visiting the service points to access council services through a computer, while customers will also be able to video conference to staff in the Alness service centre.
It is hoped that the use of this technology will reduce the need for customers to make repeat visits to service points, improve customer satisfaction and save people time and money through reduced travel.
Carbon Clever funding of up to £50,000 has also been allocated to upgrade lighting to LEDs in the communal areas of the Council’s 147 blocks of flats.
Councillor Bill Fernie, chairman of the resources committee, said: “The wide range of these projects show that the council is committed to making financial and environmental savings in all areas.
“The improvements to transport infrastructure will help residents and visitors move around the region easily using low carbon, sustainable transport.
“Investing in council buildings and trialling new technology will improve our services while helping us meet our ambitious targets of a low carbon Highland by 2025.”