The Cairngorms National Park is a national park in north east Scotland, established in 2003. It covers the Cairngorms range of mountains, and some surrounding hills. It is the largest national park in the British Isles, with an area of 3, 800 km² (1, 467 sq miles). It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament; the first was the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, set up in 2002. At the time there was some controversy; a large area of Highland Perth and Kinross that many groups felt should form part of the park was in fact left outside its boundary. There was also controversy surrounding the construction of a funicular railway on Cairn Gorm, a scheme supported by the new National Park Authority. Supporters of the scheme claimed that it would bring valuable tourist income into the area, whilst opponents argued that such a development was unsuitable for a supposedly protected area. The Cairngorm Funicular has the widest track gauge of any funicular, each carriage weighs fifteen tonnes, has three brakes is 10.5 m long and 3.2m wide and are stepped into 4 compartments. Max speed is 36kph. The journey takes approx 7 min and costs £7.50 return, The Stats Date Opened 24/12/2001 Length 1950 m Gradient 22° (max) Track Gauge 2m Number of Cars 2 Open to Public Yes
