December 10 2020

Network Rail with BAM Nuttal and AECOMhave drawn up fresh plans for a railway station serving Inverness Airport Business Park at Dalcross near the new town of Tornagrain.

The double platform halt will include a footbridge (scaled to allow future electrification), as well as a 64 space car park with electric charging points on farmland 685m to the south of the terminal.

Positioned on the Aberdeen to Inverness mainline the station will connect directly to the C1017 airport link road, complete with a 3m wide shared footpath and cycleway.

In a statement Network Rail wrote: "The design proposed is contemporary and sensitive, and is similar to other stations along this route. The lift towers will become a new visual feature of the area but will be viewed against the existing C1017 which is elevated in this location."

Plans for a £5m single track station at the site were first submitted in 2017 but never progressed. The latest iteration could be up and running by late 2022 subject to final approval and funding.  

6 Comments

#1 Posted by Dave on 11 Dec 2020 at 11:46 AM

Well hurry up and get it built then! I had to transfer from Inverness train station to the airport one evening last November - there were no direct buses for two hours, ended up having to pay nearly £30 for a taxi. My flight was only £16!

#2 Posted by The Phantom Architect on 11 Dec 2020 at 18:57 PM

Great idea. It will be around 1km from the station to the airport, only a 15 minute walk with luggage, would be good if they put in some kind of covered walkway between them. A more expensive option would be to put in some kind of automated PRT system.

#3 Posted by Sean on 12 Dec 2020 at 00:23 AM

I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.
It would certainly make coming home to visit more appealing....

#4 Posted by Angry Taxi Driver on 12 Dec 2020 at 11:23 AM

Having good public transport to airports doesn't please the taxi industry, but it pleases everyone else.

#5 Posted by Paying Punter on 12 Dec 2020 at 21:29 PM

#4 calm down - you can still chisel tourists!

#6 Posted by nairnbairn on 13 Dec 2020 at 17:55 PM

It is is quite astonishing - and an indictment of the planning process - that at both Inverness and Aberdeen (Dyce) there were not properly integrated interchanges between railway and airport long before now. Planners talk of integration and 'modal shift'. Delivery of proper road/rail/air interconnection is long overdue. Where is the direct and sheltered link (walkway, Gatwick-style automated rail link, whatever) for passengers between rail station and airport terminal? Isn't that what "joined up planning" is supposed to deliver?

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