New £14m Inverness Airport station to open to passengers

The new station had long been called for by transport campaigners

A new railway station near Inverness Airport is to open to passengers on Friday.

It has been constructed by Network Rail Scotland at a cost of £14m and includes two platforms and electric vehicle charging points.

There is also a new loop on the Inverness to Aberdeen line at the station to allow for passing trains.

Transport Scotland asked Network Rail to develop plans for the station in 2017.

Local public transport body Hitrans had been calling for a station at the airport, which is about 10 miles (16km) from Inverness, for a number of years before that.

Construction work started in October 2021.

As well as the station, a 950m (3,117ft) long passing loop has been laid and four miles (7km) of track renewed.

Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth said the station was part of the Scottish government's wider £42m investment in railways.

"I am delighted that Inverness Airport station is now complete and that services will start calling at the station for the first time this Friday," she said.

"The site was one of my earliest visits as transport minister and gives me a first-hand opportunity to see the significant progress that has been made in a short space of time."

Stuart Black, chief executive of development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise, said the station would be an "excellent addition" to the Highland region's transport infrastructure.

He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "It is a stop on the line between Inverness and Nairn and has the added advantage of a passing loop.

"A lot of the line between Inverness and Aberdeen is single track so an extra passing loop at the station is going to be beneficial for the whole of the line."

The completion of station follows last year's reopening of Reston in the Borders and Kintore station in Aberdeenshire in 2020.