Special Yorkshire Day for steam fans
YORKSHIRE’S largest heritage railway has reopened and is hoping for a positive end to the summer after the most difficult spell in its history.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) started running passenger services, as part of a successful “welcome back” event, which saw volunteer station staff and over 700 people, who had pre-booked, return for the services at the weekend. NYMR general manager Chris Price said the relaunch on Saturday was all the more “poignant” because it coincided with this year’s Yorkshire Day.
“It is great to see passengers returning to the NYMR for our reopening and was a great way to celebrate Yorkshire Day,” Mr Price said.
“Public support has been fantastic and it’s great to see people enjoying the sights and sounds of the locomotives whilst adhering to the extra social distancing measures.
“We’ve had some great feedback from our passengers so far and we’re looking forward to the rest of the summer.”
Having suspended operations since March and postponed the season launch, the reopening means that the railway will be able to begin recouping costs from its lost spring season during the school holidays, which is traditionally its busiest time of year.
Mr Price said that due to the weekend success the NYMR can now progress to phase two of its plans with the newly named service the Optimist.
He added: “This new journey will allow our passengers to once again travel the full length of the line.”
The full details about the next phase of opening will be announced later this week.