Fire-damaged Ballater landmark Old Royal Station to get £3m restoration

A fire-ravaged Scottish landmark with historic ties to Queen Victoria is set to rise from the ashes.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall receiving a talk from railway staff about the reproduction Victorian railway carriage at Ballater's Old Royal Station in 2008. Picture: PA

Ballater’s Old Royal Station, where the 19th century monarch would alight on her annual pilgrimages to Balmoral Estate in Royal Deeside, was destroyed after going up in flames last year.

Planning permission has now been submitted for an ambitious £3 million reinstatement of the site.

The planning application follows months of work by Aberdeenshire Council, architects Halliday Fraser Munro and Historic Environment Scotland. Plans for the reinstated station building include room for a VisitScotland information centre, public library and restaurant as well as the Royal waiting room and a replica Royal carriage.

There will also be a new “railway shed” style exhibition space extending along the old platform and over the tracks where the Royal carriage sits.

Planning permission is now being sought from the Cairngorms National Park Authority.

If granted, work could start on site in November, with the station and exhibition space expected to be open towards the end of 2017.

Aberdeenshire Council’s Marr area manager, Janelle Clark, said: “The aspiration was to create a real focal point for visitors and the local community.”

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