Mid- Norfolkbuys18coaches in historic deal with Porterbrook
THE Mid- Norfolk Railway ( MNR) hasbought18Mk. 3carriages from PorterbrookLeasing inwhatmay have been the biggest single acquisition of coaching stock in the historyof the heritagesector.
The coaches have just been withdrawn fromAbellio Greater Anglia service on the London to Norwich main line following the introduction of new Stadler Rail- built Class 745/ 0 and 755 FLIRTmultiple unit replacements.
Abellio Greater Anglia had previously funded a £ 3million rolling stock storage facility close to the line’s Kimberley Park station for the storage of the new Swiss- built Class 745/ 0 units, the first of which entered service on January 8.
Original seating
TheMk. 3s will be used ondiesel- hauled servicetrains and later thisyear for the MNR’splanned Polar Expressservices, based onthe Hollywood animation blockbuster starringTomHanks anda huge success of heritage lines thathave runthem.
TheMNR has immediately begun work on returning the coaches to their original seating configuration, by removing the high- density, airline- style seats and replacing them with sets of four seats around a table for the whole coach on either side of the central aisle.
MNR trust chairman Charlie Robinson said:“This is an important day for the railway, as the revenue we receive fromour Polar Express experience forms a vital part of the railway’s income that ultimately pays for the railway.
“The acquisition of the coaches has come at a difficult time, but it was an opportunitywe could not miss for the long- term future of the railway.
“The refurbished coaches, with the return to the original seating arrangement, will make the vehicles significantly more family friendly and will, we hope, enhance the Polar Express experience for our passengers.”
Polar Express update
Theconfirmation that thisyear’sMNR Polar Express will runonasuccession of datesbetweenNovember14and December23 isseenasakey step in the gradualprocess of reopening the railway to passengers following lockdown. Asweclosed forpress theMNRwas planning to run services inAugust using all- compartment stock to maintain social distancing, inaccordancewith the relevantCovid- 19 guidance at thetime.
MNR Polar Express ticket sales have been extremely successful so far, and the railway is ring- fencing the money raised against any last- minute coronavirus issues that would prevent the trains running, to assure all passengers that in such an event the ticket pricewill be refunded.
Tickets are nowon sale at: www. mid norfolkthepolarexpressride. com
Elsewhere, Tyseley- based Vintage Trains, operator of the only main line Polar Express, has cancelled this year’s series because of the pandemic, while the Telford Steam Railway ( TSR), which has derived a huge slice of its annual income from the event, has also called it off.
TSR director Jemma Gough said: “Due to the size of our site and our platforms, we cannot safely manage social distancing for the event.
“The way our carriages are laid out means that every other table would need to be empty, which impacts on ticket sales.”
However, theWensleydale Railway is going full steam ahead with its Polar Express, with more than £ 9000 worth of tickets sold at https:// yorkshiredalesthepolarexpressride. comas we closed for press.