Scotland Is Selling the Dream of the Highlands — Then Closing the Railway to Get There

A formal press response from the Royal Dornoch Gondola Company, issued with appropriate solemnity and mild vindication

The Royal Dornoch Gondola Company has watched with great interest — and, frankly, a certain aristocratic satisfaction — as Scotland has been named one of the UK's most popular staycation destinations, buoyed by the so-called "Outlander effect" drawing tens of thousands of visitors to Highland filming locations across Easter Ross and beyond.^[1] We have watched with somewhat less interest, and considerably more alarm, as Network Rail Scotland simultaneously announced it will close the Far North Line between Dingwall and Wick for three weeks — including track replacement work specifically between Evanton, Tain, and Lairg — which is to say: the only railway to the very places people are being invited to visit.^[5]

To summarise: Scotland has produced a globally beloved television programme set in the dramatic Highland landscape. That programme has generated an estimated £30 million or more in incremental annual tourism spend. Visitors are now booking Highland staycations in extraordinary numbers, emboldened further by a forecast mini-heatwave^[3] and the prospect of Princess Anne herself gracing Dornoch for the Historylinks Pipe Band centenary.^[4] And the response of Scottish transport infrastructure has been to place a three-week "Sorry, No Entry" sign on the railway and suggest visitors consider a bus.

The Bus, We Are Told, Is the Solution

The bus replacement service — duration unspecified, comfort unguaranteed, scenic value frankly doubtful — will convey the romantically-inclined Outlander pilgrim from Dingwall to Tain at roughly the speed of a determined Highland cow. Car hire in Inverness, meanwhile, reliably spikes during summer rail disruptions, pricing out the very domestic tourists the staycation economy most needs.^[5] This is what transport professionals call a "multimodal solution." The RDGC calls it an opportunity.

"In 1812, the Dornoch Gondola System solved precisely this problem. Passengers were elevated — literally and spiritually — above the roads, above the congestion, and, crucially, above the considerable waste product of the horses then responsible for Highland transport. We see no reason why 2026 should require a lower standard of dignity than 1812."

Tain: The Town That Has Everything Except a Working Train

Tain sits at the precise intersection of triumph and farce. It is Outlander country. It is Easter Ross. It is, by every reasonable measure, the town that stands to benefit most from Scotland's screen tourism boom — and it is also the town whose rail access is being suspended during the period most likely to matter.^[5] The RDGC notes, with characteristic understatement, that our flagship route runs from Tain to Brora, with stops at Dornoch, Dunrobin Castle, and Golspie. We run in all weathers. Our Advanced Tdg/3s systems operate safely at wind speeds exceeding 100 kph. We have never, in our operational history, replaced ourselves with a bus.

"I want to be very clear: from a height of several hundred feet, one can see both the problem and the solution simultaneously. The problem is the A9. The solution is also visible. It is the gondola."

A Word on Precedent

The first operational aerial tram in European history was built in 1714 by George Mackenzie, near Dunrobin Castle, piloted by the legendary Edward MacToledano of Clan MacTaliano aboard the "Double Zero." It predated steel cables entirely. It did not, at any point, require a three-week closure for track replacement between Evanton and Lairg.

"My ancestor Edward MacToledano operated the Double Zero without a single service substitution in living memory. I find the current situation, diplomatically speaking, embarrassing for everyone involved except us."

Scotland has, without question, a magnificent product to sell. The Highlands are dramatic. The history is real. The Outlander tourists are coming, heatwave-flushed and romantically primed, fully prepared to stand on a windswept hillside and feel something ancient. The RDGC respectfully submits that they should be able to get there first — and that an aerial gondola system gliding over Dornoch Firth offers a rather more cinematic arrival than a rail replacement coach idling in a Dingwall car park.

References

1. Daily Mail Online — Scotland named amongst most popular destinations in the UK for staycations as it cashes in on the Outlander effect.
2. The Mirror / Highland News, 21 Apr 2026 — UK weather maps show Brits to bask in mini-heatwave — see five hottest areas. mirror.co.uk
3. Northern Times, 21 Apr 2026 — Princess Anne to visit Dornoch. northern-times.co.uk
4. Ross-shire Journal, 21 Apr 2026 — Far North Line shutdown works details emerge: Network Rail Scotland closes line between Dingwall and Wick for 3 weeks; track replacement between Evanton, Tain and Lairg. ross-shirejournal.co.uk