‘WATERCRESS LINE’, WSR AND KESR CALCULATE THE COST OF COVID-19
Coronavirus has hit three major preserved lines at a time when they were hoping to turn their fortunes around after difficult periods.
As detailed in SR503, the Mid-Hants Railway was optimistic that the visit of Flying Scotsman in February and early March would help to revive its visitor figures, which had been flagging because the Medstead & Four Marks-Alton section – and the main line connection at the latter station – were out of commission for the replacement of the bridge at Butts Junction.
Describing Flying Scotsman’s visit as “a fabulous start to the year”, Simon Baggott, the MHR’s newly appointed general manager, commented: “It was estimated that the media interest from TV, local radio and both local and national newspapers reached almost 11 million people. It is sad not to be able to capitalise immediately on this success.
“The railway is fortunate to have some reserves that it can fall back on, so there is no immediate concern. We will be looking at the government help for businesses that is coming and that we may be able to access. The main effect right now is that capital investments are likely to be postponed or slowed, and if the crisis continues we will need to fundraise in order to be able to make these investments.
“If we can, we will continue to carry out maintenance and overhaul tasks. We will make our facilities and skills available to support the transport sector more generally, if the need arises.”
In SR502, we reported how the Kent & East Sussex Railway was hoping for 2020 to be a “time of stabilisation”, following a successful 2019 season that had improved on the year before, when it sustained a £30,000 loss.
KESR chairman Simon Marsh said: “We are very disappointed that this has come at a point when we were getting ourselves into shape and really looking forward to the future – to the 2020 season and beyond.
“Having weighed up all the evidence, we took an early decision to suspend operations until mid-April, and this has now been extended until the end of June. We have this evening [March 23] decided to suspend work at our sites and adopt home working as the norm.
“We are already looking at options for running and marketing services later in the year, and we are modelling the effects on our budget of a range of different scenarios. This will enable us to take sensible decisions regarding expenditure, which for the present has been reduced to the absolute minimum.
“We are exploring options for financing the shortfall in revenue, and we shall shortly be taking decisions about our major ongoing capital projects; at present, the worst case option looks like deferral rather than cancellation.
“We are staying in touch with
our railway family, including by increasing the frequency of internal communications. We are conscious that for many the railway is a huge part of life and we care for their wellbeing.
“We are actively looking for backroom tasks that can be undertaken, and as far as we can, we want to use this as an opportunity to think about how the KESR can thrive in the post-Covid-19 world.”
The West Somerset Railway has had arguably the toughest time in recent years, with its enforced closures during the past two winters, and the need for major track upgrades to bring it back up to its previous Red Route status.
Announcing on March 20 that it was postponing its opening until further notice, the WSR stated: “The plc board have discussed this situation at length, and have decided to put the railway into a state of care and maintenance to safeguard its future.”
A WSR spokesman confirmed that the track upgrade programme would be put on hold, saying:
“It just makes sense – even if we did have the money, we might need it for other things.
“I think the WSR’s situation will have been changed significantly by the announcement of the Covid-19 job retention scheme – but given the wide-ranging effects that this is having on all our lives, you can’t rule anything in or out.
“There is a difficult challenge ahead, that’s the best way to put it – but we’re not unique.”