A subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has outlined potential improvements to the Far North Line in the Highlands.

The suggestion to create a new railhead, or freight terminus, in Caithness was made by Direct Rail Services (DRS) and it was asserted that possible improvements at the Workington port in Cumbria could give the Highlands access to a new trade route to Europe.

The NDA has consulted on moving nuclear material from Dounreay to Sellafield, and a spokesman said if this plan was to go-ahead, a railhead could be created near Georgemas Junction where railway lines from Wick and Thurso meet.

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The terminus could potentially have other roles beyond the loading of material from Dounreay onto trains, such as delivering goods to and from Scrabster harbour on the Caithness coast.

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) said the railway improvements would support economic regeneration in Caithness and help with the proposed movement of the breeder material.

DSRL said Carlisle-based DRS had already "invested substantially" in the railway terminal in Inverness and is now considering a new railhead in Caithness.

The plans for the improvements were outlined in a meeting with members of Caithness Transport Forum, Dounreay Stakeholders Group and Caithness and North Sutherland Partnership's advisory group.

NDA spokesman Bill Hamilton said the plan to move the material by rail had been in the public domain and was open to consultation.

On the railway improvement plans, he said: "In order to proceed with the rail option clearly we would need to fund a suitable site for a new railhead.

"There are a number of benefits this could have to the community and to the socio-economic future of the area. I am thinking here of things like the development of Scrabster harbour."

(JG/BMcC)