Following on from its previous ‘Survival Fund’, the Severn Valley Railway has now launched a new initiative for raising funds, the ‘Resilience Fund’.
The aim of the appeal is to secure the railway’s financial future, which was previously threatened by the Covid lockdowns and is currently still in jeopardy due to the cost-of-living crisis.
The award-winning railway has seen fewer people able to visit, while the cost of running its trains has increased considerably.
As part of its appeal, Severn Valley Railway has highlighted the high cost of a standard gauge heritage railway operation, even one which is predominately staffed by volunteers.
For example, the coal required for one 32-mile round trip along the length of the line, from Kidderminster in Worcestershire to Bridgnorth in Shropshire and back, costs a staggering £500.
Track replacement is also pricey, as purchasing one new set of points comes in at around £10,000.
We need every bit of help we can find right now
Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster, Managing Director of the Severn Valley Railway
Nevertheless, smaller donations are also helpful and can go towards covering the purchase of granite ballast or special locomotive paint.
The fund is being managed by SVR Company Limited, which will pass on the donations to SVR (Holdings) Plc, the train operating company.
We are indebted to everyone who supported the Survival Fund. It raised a very substantial £500,000, and has helped us turn things around from what was, without doubt, a time of crisis.
We’ve now wound up the Survival Fund, but there’s still a long way to go before we can say we’ve fully recovered. We’re going to need ongoing support to meet our running costs for some time to come, so that we can build the railway’s resilience and confidence, and safeguard assets such as rolling stock and infrastructure.
We suffered a huge loss of income during Covid when we had to shut down for extended periods. And the current cost-of-living crisis has damaged visitor numbers, whilst the price of coal, diesel, electricity and everything else we need continues to rise.
We’ve made massive savings with scrupulous spending controls and by reducing our paid staff, and we’ve found new ways of earning income by undertaking contract work for main line railway companies. But operating the SVR is a costly business, and we need every bit of help we can find right now.
Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster, Managing Director of the Severn Valley Railway
Responses
Russell
I agree with the comments John made of using the SVR for special events only. People aren’t travelling due to the costs but the price of coal has gone down.
Cut the trains down , people might not like it to start with but if there’s not enough people on them to justify running the trains.
You would still get people on gala days to warrant the costs
Not helping themselves dropping things like big battle and military displays for the 40s weekends, roll up roll up and spend a fortune on a ticket and watch a wedding and the cast of Allo Allo. That popular attraction then everyone under 30 knows about, Makes you not want to visit with the cost of a family ticket.
It seems to be a never ending appeal for money. It is already to expensive for me to take my family on for a day out let alone giving money to them. I wish them well but it may be they would be better just running on special event days. Use it the rest of the year for static displays and guided tours. Saves on coal, loco, rolling stock, track way wear and tare. That way at least we keep the SVR with out bankrupting ourselves trying to keep it as it is.
One would assume that the coal for a round trip is costed into the ticket price/anticipated passenger numbers.
Secondly, they just reported record numbers for the Diesel Festival, so all is not doom & gloom.