FULL STEAM AHEAD AT SVR

BOSSES at Severn Valley Railway have revealed big changes for the attraction after a year of restrictions owing to Covid.

Since re-opening in August last year after the first lockdown, the railway has been running fixed excursion services, with passengers having to use one compartment for the whole of their visit.

Covid rules meant travellers had to pre-book one train all day, and were unable to ‘hop on, hop off’. But from September 7, the SVR will welcome back ‘hop on, hop off’ passengers to all regular services, either with full-day freedom-of-the-line tickets or on journeys between selected stations.

And passengers at the forthcoming Autumn Steam and Diesel Galas will also now be able to choose their itineraries, rather than travelling on designated trains as previously planned.

SVR general manager Helen Smith said: “It’s been a delicate balancing act between operating safely and returning to our traditional way of operating. With the progressive easing of government restrictions and the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, we think now is the right time to go back to a more traditional service at the SVR.”