It is owned by the Highlands and Islands Enterprise and was operated by Cairngorm Mountain Limited until July 2014, when Natural Retreats UK took over the lease.

From Glenmore, a route is taken through the snow gates[clarification needed] and via a one-way system past Coire na Ciste for approximately 3 km (1.9 mi).

The system is powered by two stationary in series 500 kW electric motors, a gear box and a 'soft start-soft stop' control system which can increase the electrical frequency and vary the current and voltage to control the carriage speeds as they approach or leave a station.

This means that for conservation reasons, the public is not allowed to access the mountains during the summer season from Ptarmigan building.

However, walkers who have climbed the hill themselves may purchase a downhill ticket at the Ptarmigan building for travelling back down to Base.

Blair Milne, one of the administrators, cited that the company had become "unsustainably loss-making" after an extended closure in October 2018.

[8] The closure of the Cairngorm Mountain Railway funicular was due to "health and safety concerns" and "structural problems" according to reports in summer 2019.

At the time, an engineering investigation was still underway to determine whether modifications would be "achievable and affordable", according to its then-owner, the Scottish government's Highlands and Islands Enterprise which also owns Cairngorm Mountain ski centre.

[9][10][11] The final findings of the consultants, SE Group, were released in July 2019, but a decision on how to proceed had not yet been made at that time.

[12] On 14 October 2020, the Scottish Government announced more than £16m would be spent on the reinstatement of the funicular railway as part of a £20m project.