Following reports of teething trouble at the new funicular on Cairn Gorm Dave Hewitt speaks to Bob Kinnaird, chief executive of the company that runs the railway and lets him have his say on the controversial issue.
This column is always pleased to receive feedback, so it was good to hear from Bob Kinnaird, chief executive of CairnGorm Mountain [sic], the company that runs the funicular. I wrote about the teething troubles of the Highlands' newest attraction a couple of weeks ago and Kinnaird quickly got in touch to put the company's point of view.
He opened his comments by saying that he was "disappointed to read so many inaccuracies and untruths", which led me to expect a refutation of the main thrust of the earlier piece, namely that there had already (since the official opening just before Christmas) been at least one potentially serious incident involving the funicular and that safety concerns were not being aired as fully as might be expected. Having read Kinnaird's comments however, while I accept that I got some of the details wrong, I'd argue that the bulk of what was written two weeks ago appears to have been accurate and pertinent (if not particularly palatable to the company).
It brought to the fore various funicular-related incidents/problems that had until then been scarcely known in the wider hillgoing community - and, as will be seen, Kinnaird's feedback has moved this openness process forward still further. Hopefully this call and response method can continue as and when other issues require clarification. I'll try and get everything right but if I sometimes don't manage it then I'm happy to publish clarifications and amendments. The e-door is always open for feedback, be it in the form of agreement or dissent.
So, to detail. Kinnaird opens his comments with the statement that, "CairnGorm Mountain operates an open and transparent communications policy and, more importantly, a very high level safety policy that complies fully with the requirements of Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate under whose licence the funicular railway is currently operating a running-in period over the next few months. There was no attempt to cover up anything relating to the minor incident of 19 January and the company responded quickly and fully when all of the facts were to hand. CairnGorm Mountain prefers to deal in facts and has quickly established a reputation for openness in its communication with interested parties at many different levels."
Of the 19 January funicular incident, I wrote in my earlier piece that it, "appears to have involved an electrical fault and an abrupt halt which threw passengers into each other and against the sides of the carriage, resulting - according to one unconfirmed source - in cuts and bruises." The piece went on to state that the funicular company "didn't rush out a press release", and this is something, which I'm happy to correct. A statement from the company was released on 21 January - it just didn't reach this particular corner of the press world. (I've subsequently asked the company to put me on their mailing list for future incident-related releases.)
Kinnaird goes on to comment that the press release was issued, "when all the facts had been determined and full team de-briefing had taken place". Now this worries me slightly, implying as it does that all the facts had been determined within 48 hours. That sounds like a pretty rapid inquest.
Kinnaird also confirms that the incident was caused by dodgy electrics in the system, "An electrical fault did develop but was diagnosed and repaired within a very short time." His initial response didn't clarify whether the halt was indeed so sudden that passengers sustained cuts and bruises but when pressed on this he stated (20 Feb) that "we have now had in excess of 35,000 users and I am only aware of one minor injury which was a bruised wrist caused by the funicular stopping".
As to the incident itself, "there was an abrupt halt when the emergency braking system applied following the electrical fault and, because winter passengers are standing passengers this may have caused some to be knocked off balance. In such circumstances, the carriage attendants are trained to explain what is happening and keep the passengers informed and this was done."
That's good to hear, as is the assertion that, "wind conditions were not factors in stopping the funicular running - it was simply an electrical fault." And the timing and length of the incident has been clarified. My initial information was that passengers were trapped inside the carriage for upwards of 45 minutes, but Kinnaird states that "the fault occurred at around 1425 hrs and passengers in the downhill carriage were back in the Base Station before 1500 hrs. At no time were passengers exposed to any risk." So we're looking at around half an hour all told.
Refunds and hot drinks were duly offered, "as one would expect from an organisation committed to providing every visitor to CairnGorm Mountain with a quality experience, refunds were offered to anyone whose experience was diluted because of an operational problem. At the time 52 passengers were given refunds at the ticket desk but, since this is already established company policy, nothing was done hastily."
Maybe it's just me but I find such PR-jargonese amusing - everything nowadays has to have a positive spin applied to it, and hearing about an "experience...diluted because of an operational problem" is a fine example of something very specific and downright unpleasant being euphemised away into general vagueness. The Campaign for Plain English might soon be taking an interest in CairnGorm Mountain's press statements.
But what genuinely worries - rather than amuses - is this next comment from the funicular chief exec. "At the time," he writes, "it was also considered appropriate to offer hot drinks because passengers, some of whom were ill dressed for a mountain experience, had been in cold conditions longer than normal. This situation was exacerbated by the very limited facilities currently available at the top where the Ptarmigan remains on schedule but still under construction."
This, compared with the previous euphemism, I find startlingly honest. The company admits to encouraging people to go to a considerable height, on a north-facing hill, in winter, for a "mountain experience" when the available facilities are not as yet all that might be expected or indeed required. While individual passengers inevitably make their own choices with regard to clothing, snacks etc, there does seem to be an admission here of the potential for serious difficulty should something go awry with the funicular ride for which they've paid their £7.50. A lot of people are being ferried up and down Cairn Gorm on a facility that provides, "very limited facilities...at the top".
The events of 19 January notwithstanding (and I personally wouldn't feel easy describing what happened as "minor") there has not as yet been a genuinely major incident. By that I mean one involving rescue teams, serious injuries and/or hypothermia (for which, it must be noted, the company has been working on a "multi-agency response plan...coordinated by the Highland Constabulary and local Mountain Rescue Team. Plans are in place for all possible scenarios 12 months of the year.")
But smaller unpleasantnesses have undoubtedly occurred. Reports of queuing angst abound on the Winterhighland funicular forum (read it here), while Scotland On Line has heard of another incident on 12 January. Christopher Horton reports that his wife Edie's manager travelled on the funicular that day only to find that passengers at the top station had to wait for, "45 to 60 minutes" before being taken back down. "There was nowhere for them to get inside," Horton writes, "and the weather was freezing. Some of the people were old and others did not even have a coat as they had intended on going down after five minutes or so." Kinnaird has said that the Ptarmigan restuarant will open in March.
Moving on from these date-specific problems, Bob Kinnaid also responded on other funicular-related matters. Re the reports of climbers being allowed to hitch an end-of-day ride back down the hill (contrary to the agreed terms of the operation), Kinnaird states that "the funicular staff at the top have been instructed not to admit anyone, whether climber, walker or skier, who is not in possession of a relevant funicular ticket. Since there are no ticket buying facilities at the top, this is simply another "mountain myth", though it is always possible that one or two climbers may have successfully "conned" their way onto the train for a free downhill ride."
He has also expressed an eagerness to investigate any such incidents, although surely the easy way to police this is to keep an eye out for musclebound weatherbeaten types disembarking from the funicular while hiding ice tools under their jackets. More reasonably, Kinnaird notes that "we are however happy for climbers to access the building to use the toilets, this seems to be a matter of common sense. We have also transported injured climbers and mountain rescue members and will continue to do so." Fair enough.
And as to the overall "ski spectator" situation, Kinnaird has also clarified this, "The approved planning conditions always allowed for ski spectator tickets being made available during the ski season but this is quite different from allowing visitors out of the Ptarmigan during the summer months when there will be no egress from the building."
In conclusion, the chief exec concedes that there have been, "minor teething problems with the funicular and that has almost been inevitable because of its scale and complexity and because it is the first high-speed mountain railway of its kind in the UK. Nevertheless, it has operated successfully in windspeeds far in excess of those at which the previous chairlifts - which it replaced - could have operated and has provided a much improved service to skiers and others.
"Far from being a "White Elephant", the CairnGorm Funicular is already proving its worth as a visitor attraction and catalyst to a resurgence of tourism in the Scottish Highlands. At the same time, the newly introduced ecological and environmental management schemes are beginning to show that conservation and recreation can operate in harmony and provide a sustainable relationship within even the most fragile of mountain environments."
Well, time will tell with much of this. I wouldn't pretend for a minute that I've been anything other than an opponent of the funicular ever since its inception and it's railroading - ahem - through the various planning/consultation stages. I can't recall exactly when I first wrote about this but the front cover of the May 1996 edition of The Angry Corrie (which I edit) majored on the subject - see it here
However, the funicular is now in situ so there's little point arguing over that side of things any more (although it might not be there for ever). The main focus of attention now needs to be the safe and viable (in both economic and ecological terms) running of the railway. If in due course it shows itself to be successful at drawing people in and efficient at hauling them up and down the hillside, then this writer will admit as much. The third aspect - the effect on the landscape - is already a lost cause. The north side of Cairn Gorm has long been trashed and has been trashed further since the railway replaced the chairlifts.
One final point for now. Bob Kinnaird, predictably I suppose, has offered to give me a guided tour of the "operation". I'm all for seeing the thing in action - in fact I feel duty-bound to go in order to offer a genuine personal opinion on how things currently stand. But I prefer not to go on a management inspired freebie, well meaning though that might be. At some point in the next few weeks I'll go to Cairn Gorm incognito, will buy a ticket as does every other punter, and will attempt to see what's good and what's bad with this most emotive of tourist attractions. And, of course, I'll let you know.
Dave Hewitt
21/2/2002
The funicular website is at www.CairnGormMountain.com
You can email Dave at Dave.Hewitt@dial.pipex.com
