Plans have been unveiled for a new railway station to serve Inverness Airport, which could end up as one of the busiest in the north.

A stop at Dalcross close to the airport has been a long held goal of the statutory Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (Hitrans) which promotes improvements to public transport in the area.

It is now pursuing the construction of a station on the Inverness to Aberdeen line at a cost of £2m and says it could be open in 2018, if planning permission and funding are secured.

As well as the airport it would also serve the new community of Tornagrain planned for midway between Inverness, which ultimately could be home to 12,500 people.

It is projected that an Inverness Airport stop could become the second busiest station in the area after Inverness, eventually overtaking Elgin.

Its platform would be 575ft long, which would be suitable for high speed trains with five carriages and two engine cars, as proposed by operators Abellio.

The station would be one mile from the airport terminal by road, but a connecting bus service is envisaged.

Frank Roach, partnership manager at Hitrans, said the project was the realisation of more than 10 years work. A consultation would begin next week.

“This starts the whole process. The public consultation is firing the starting gun. After we have the consultation, we will submit the plans to the planners,” he said.

“It will make the whole area a more attractive place to live and do business in."

He said it would it would increase the connectivity with flights to the islands, which were important to Hitrans. In addition "it will enable folk from Moray to access the airport more effectively than they can at the moment.”

Mr Roach said: “Ultimately, it’s predicted to become the second busiest station in Highland. The forecast growth, employment, and housing will make this a very obvious site for further development.”

Initially there would be 50 car parking spaces rising to 150 later, while new link roads and cycle paths would be built to connect it to the existing airport access road.