Steam rail tunnel will cost £1m

The trust hopes to restore a line closed in the 1960s

A new £1m tunnel will have to be built as part of a plan to extend a steam railway line that starts in Aviemore.

Strathspey Railway Charitable Trust is trying to raise almost £5m for a new track to Grantown-on-Spey and to pay for platforms and station buildings.

It said £1m of that total is a contribution towards a tunnel under the A95 at Gaich.

The trust will discuss its plans at a a public meeting in Grantown-on-Spey on Monday.

Strathspey Railway already operates services on almost 10 miles of line from Aviemore to Broomhill.

The £5m is needed to extend the track to Grantown-on-Spey.

Government agency Transport Scotland has asked for a £1m contribution towards the construction of a railway tunnel under the re-aligned A95 road at Gaich near Grantown-on-Spey.

Once completed, the extended line will be maintained and operated by volunteers working on the trains, track and stations.

The project aims to restore a stretch of line closed in 1965 following a report on railways by Dr Richard Beeching.

MP Danny Alexander and MSPs Mary Scanlon and David Stewart are expected to attend Monday's meeting.

The trust said another local MSP, Fergus Ewing, supports the project but will not be able to make it to the meeting.

Other invited guests include Cairngorms National Park Authority convener David Green, Highland Council convener Sandy Park and Martin Johnson and Anne Williamson of Highlands and Islands Enterprise.