19 March 2012 Last updated at 05:39 ET

Road traffic allowed onto railway at Stromeferry

Traffic is using the railway at Stromeferry in Wester Ross

Road traffic has been allowed onto the railway at Stromeferry in Wester Ross to help ease travel in the area.

A stretch of the A890 has been shut since December following landslides.

Traffic will be allowed onto the nearby railway when there are no trains passing through and until the risk of further slides is reduced.

The A890 helps to connect Lochcarron to Plockton, and its high school, and eventually with Kyle, on the opposite side of Loch Carron.

The road runs across the top of the sea loch to link up with the A896, the main road to Lochcarron.

To make the journey by road at the moment involves drivers having to take a 140-mile (225km) diversion, instead of the usual 18 miles (29km) from Lochcarron to Plockton.

The small car ferry has been running between North and South Strome since January, while a seal-watching boat has been ferrying schoolchildren.