For the first time since the Covid pandemic, a passenger train has run over the entire 9-mile length of the Great Central Railway (Nottingham).

The run took place yesterday, 28th November, when a two-car diesel multiple unit (DMU) travelled over the full length of the line that the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) controls from Ruddington near Nottingham to the junction with the Midland Main Line in Loughborough in Leicestershire.

This was the first time a passenger train had travelled along the entire line since before the global pandemic, and also the first to cross the brand new bridge over the A60 road.

The diesel multiple unit used for the test run was recently restored Class 107 vehicles 52031 and 52005, which had been hired from Nemesis Rail to provide motive power for the railway’s new Jingle Bells Express festive family event.

The railway ran the test train as an operational rehearsal for the Jingle Bells Express which runs from Saturday, 30th November and every weekend throughout December.

Jingle Bells Express trains will run 2½ miles from the railway’s base at Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre in Ruddington to Rushcliffe Halt, but they won’t continue from there onwards towards Loughborough.

However, the train was able to continue to the railway’s southern limit of operations at the new bridge over the A60 road on the north side of Loughborough as it has been fully tamped in recent months.

The bridge over the A60 is part of the ambitious Reunification project, which will reconnect the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) with the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire, and ultimately continue straight on to reach Loughborough Central. Current plans are for public trains to start operating south of Rushcliffe Halt in 2025.

More information about the Jingle Bells Express trains can be found at www.gcrn.co.uk

“This is another major achievement by volunteers who have invested tens of thousands of hours in the rebirth of the Great Central Railway in Nottinghamshire. Getting the DMU down the main line prepares us for the Jingle Bells Express running through December, but is also a statement of intent for the Reunification project. The GCR in Leicestershire is so close you can almost touch it. The tests went very well and we know passengers are excited about once again taking a train from Ruddington to Rushcliffe through the open countryside of south Nottinghamshire.”

Andy Fillingham of Great Central Railway (Nottingham)