Business leaders and politicians yesterday hailed the “real momentum” behind plans to build a £2million railway station at Inverness Airport.
The Press and Journal yesterday revealed detailed proposals for the long-awaited project yesterday as transport body Hitrans prepares to “fire the starting gun” on the process.
A public exhibition will be held next week, after which a planning application will be lodged – with the station scheduled to be open by the end of 2018.
Callum Smith, Inverness Airport Duty Manager, gave his backing to the proposed station.
“There now appears to be a real momentum behind these ambitious plans and we look forward to working with Hitrans to help bring them about,” he said.
“A new rail link will help improve the airport’s connectivity and provide a wider mix of transport options for passengers from across the north.”
Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stewart Nicol said: “It’s a very welcome move. I know it has been in the planning for quite some time, I’ve talked to Hitrans over the years about it.
“It’s really good to see it being done and they are proposing a fairly tight timescale. I would hope it would be a fairly straightforward planning process because it’s a necessary step to link the airport more securely to the city centre.”
Inverness MP Drew Hendry said: “I am delighted to see the development of the station at Inverness Airport take yet another step forward.
“The addition of this station will have a positive impact on connectivity to and from the city and the wider Highlands and Islands. I know it will make a big difference to the many regular commuters as well as to visitors to the region.”
However, Neil Pottie, who has farmland on both sides of the rail line at Dalcross, raised concerns about the closure of the level crossing beside Petty Church.
“We’ve not been informed that was the intention. We wouldn’t be in favour of it closing the crossing. It would be a huge inconvenience, certainly, to have the crossing closed.
“It would be a long route around. It would certainly be a couple of miles. That doesn’t sound like a lot but with a tractor and trailer it is, and it is going to mean extra traffic on the road.
“There’s quite a lot of traffic use that road, quite a lot of houses would be affected.”
