Inverness Airport will be served by rail for the first time ever from next week if all goes to plan.
The new Inverness Airport Railway Station will be officially opened on Thursday February 2, allowing passengers to go from train to plane and plane to train.
But with a half a mile separating the airport terminal and the new station, passengers will have to walk between them, or take a bus.
But who’s operating the bus, and why are the facilities not side by side?
Those are just some of the questions being posed by our readers, so we put them and others to Network Rail to get you some answers.
How much is the Inverness Airport Railway Station?
The total cost for the entire project and wider works associated was £42 million.
It comes with two platforms linked by a footbridge, and lifts that hold 16 people at a time.
The facility also features ramps, active travel paths to both platforms, cycle parking on each platform, and a 64-space car park — of which 10 have electric vehicle charging facilities.
Wider improvements include a passing loop which lets two trains pass at the station, which adds capacity between Nairn and Inverness, and a new pedestrian footbridge replacing closed level crossings.
Why is the railway station half a mile from Inverness Airport terminal?
In an ideal world, the new station would be right next to the airport, but that’s not how it has worked out.
But, they could end up closer together in the future.
The railway station has been built onto the existing Inverness-Aberdeen rail line.
A plan to replace the passenger terminal at Inverness Airport with a new building situated far closer to the railway station is being considered by its operator, Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial).
It is one of four options for expanding the terminal to meet forecast growth in customer numbers under consideration by Highlands and Islands Airports (Hial).
Frank Roach, partnership manager for the regional transport body Hitrans, has been working on developing the station for the best part of 25 years.
He said: “When I started doing this job, plans were afoot for a £30 million private finance initiative for a new Inverness Airport terminal.
“I tried to say it would be a good idea to have the new airport terminal beside the railway line, but it was actually too far down the planning process by that time and so we have ended up with it being where it is.
“It’s good though that the option of bringing the railway and the terminal together is back on the table after 25 years.”
How can you get from Inverness Airport Railway Station to the airport terminal?
A lit walkway funded by Hitrans connects the station and airport.
The walk from the station to the terminal is just over half a mile, and takes an estimated 12 minutes on foot.
An earlier business case for the airport assumed that a free shuttle bus costing £ 120,000 a year would meet every stopping train and take passengers to Inverness airport and the Inverness Airport Business Park.
But there will not be a dedicated shuttle bus.
Instead, travellers will board a bus service very familiar to Highland residents…
Inverness Airport travellers: All aboard Stagecoach’s number 11 bus
Network Rail said Stagecoach will run its number 11 service between the station and the airport hourly, and half-hourly during peak times.
It will cost you £1.80 for a one-way ticket between the two.
The earliest bus from the airport to the station on weekdays will leave the Inverness Airport Railway Station at 5.50am, and the first bus from the Inverness Airport Railway Station will depart at 7.38am.
The last bus to the airport will depart from the railway station at 11.04pm, and the last bus from the airport to the station will be at 10.05pm.
Inverness Airport railway timetable ‘subject to change’
A Network Rail spokesman said the half-hourly service will give customers “predictability”, but the timetable would be monitored.
He added: “If there are things we can do in conjunction with the airport to strengthen or enhance the service in response to demand then that is something we can look at.”
Mr Roach argued: “People going through Gatwick or Heathrow must walk much farther to get from one part to another, so 900 metres is not that far.
“It might be perceived as being far, but that’s only because it’s outdoors.”
Parking at the station’s new car park will be completely free. It has 64 spaces.
Will Inverness Airport Railway Station help get HGVs off the roads?
West Fraser timber plant (formerly Norbord) can now create a rail terminal at its Morayhill site near Dalcross thanks to new trackwork that went in as part of the scheme.
This would allow the firm to shift more of its products by rail instead of by lorry down the A9 and the A96.
The company said it was “keen to do this but can’t comment on timescale or cost”.
However, Highlands & Islands Green MSP Ariana Burgess said it manages to use rail freight to move its goods around England so she’s “keen to support options” that will allow it to do the same thing here in the Highlands.
Interested in the development of Inverness Airport Railway Station?
We spoke to Frank Roach, partnership manager for the regional transport body Hitrans, who first boarded the airport project 25 years ago.
Conversation