Heritage rail line plans hit funding milestone

FUND-RAISERS planning to reunite two sections of the Great Central Railway (GCR) say they have now raised £750,000 towards the next phase of the scheme.

A fund-raising push last month saw a donor offer to match up to £100,000 collected during March.

A spokesman for GCR said by the end of the month well over £150,000 had been collected

“We can’t quite believe we have reached three quarters of a million pounds,” said Andy Fillingham, chairman of the Friends of the Great Central Main Line, the membership organisation for the GCR which is driving the fund-raising.

“The generosity of the support has taken our breath away. We now have 25 per cent of the £3 million we need to build the next two phases.”

Reunification will bring together two halves of the Great Central Railway which were separated after the line was closed in the 1960s.

The two lines combined will create an 18-mile heritage line between north Leicester and Nottingham.

Two stages of the scheme have already been built. The next two will see a road crossed on a bridge and a viaduct built over a factory car park.

“Our funding grows all the time as people give by standing orders,” Andy said.

“We will need to have raised most of the full cost of the next section before we can start building it, but the incredible response to Money Match March brings that day closer.

“We can’t thank everyone who has supported us enough. This has been a tremendous boost.”