Second lockdown hits
RAILWAYS ACROSS England have fallen silent once again in the face of a second national lockdown. New lockdown measures imposed from November 5 until at least December 2 have forced preserved railways in England to suspend services for the second time this year. It follows a similar ‘firebreak’ lockdown imposed across Wales from October 23 until November 9, which likewise forced railways in the principality to close, with some – such as the Bala Lake Railway – electing to remain closed until 2021.
However, North Yorkshire Moors Railway general manager Chris Price believed the lockdown would be “actually quite easy to negotiate, as long as it ends when planned.” He added: “Any railway with its head screwed on will know the path its cashflow is going to take over the winter by now. The big question is, will the Christmas period be lost? That, of course, is totally unknown at this point in time. Sadly, if that happens, it will be a kick in the ribs.”
Heritage Railway Association CEO Steve Oates said: “Things aren’t like they were in March, when railways stood to lose millions of pounds; we’re about to head into the low season and railways are prepared to deal with it.”
The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway still described the lockdown and potential loss of its Santa season as “a real blow and the worst possible news.”
At the time of going to press, the line had suspended sales for its ‘Santa Experience’ trains and said that it hoped to run them in December, provided lockdown was not extended. However, the GWSR has said that even if it cannot run its Santa services, its grant of up to £318,000 from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (see separate story, p22/23) would keep it afloat through winter and enable it to reopen as planned in 2021.
Mr Price said the NYMR was in a similarly secure position, with “the cash provision it needs to get to the start of the 2021 season” and that “there have not been, and there are no plans for, redundancies.” But, he added: “We are not complacent, and we know that
the winter of 2021/22 is potentially a harder thing to negotiate than this coming winter, so the hard work continues.”
As a smaller line, the potential loss of £50,000 of Santa income would “be a blow,” admitted Middleton Railway spokesman Ian Smith, “but the impact won’t be as severe as it could be for larger railways with high numbers of paid staff. We’re fortunate in not having paid staff, which makes a huge difference, so our lottery grants will help us survive the next few months. We should be OK for next year, but we’re still heading into the unknown.”
One railway which has lost out owing to the lockdown is the Great Central Railway, which has postponed its ‘First Hurrah’ gala, planned for November 7/8. Said managing director Michael Gough: “It wasn’t going to be a big earner, but it was an opportunity to show that we were trying to do something for the enthusiast market.” The GCR hopes to run the event in January.
Of more concern was the potential loss of Santa revenue, with its first weekend of such specials and ‘Winter Wonderlights’ cancelled owing to the new measures. “We’re just hoping the lockdown isn’t extended – if it’s only the first weekend we can live with that, but if it were to be another two weeks, we’d have to intensify the remaining Santa service,” said Mr Gough, adding that some ‘Wonderlight’ trains “could run after Christmas.”