Easier access to heritage line at Bishops Auckland
introduces any financial risk at all (no matter how small or unlikely) will not be entertained.
“As an aside, while nothing is impossible, I am of the opinion that allocating public funds to even a feasibility study on this project would not be a wise use of taxpayers’ money.”
Torbay Council’s Liberal Democrat leader, Coun Steve Darling, has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to voice his own doubts, warning that the DSRRBC felt the restoration of main line services was a ‘non-starter’.
He wrote: “The Dartmouth Steam Railway is a significant attraction in Torbay, valued both by visitors and residents alike.
“The steam railway fears that it will only take a marginal number of passengers to switch from the heritage trains to main line trains for its financial model to be unviable.”
IN ADVANCE of any potential boost from the Restoring Your Railway fund, steps are already being taken to improve the connection of the Weardale Railway to the main line at Bishop Auckland.
Network Rail is bringing the redundant section of its platform at the County Durham station back up to standard.
Once that work is complete, the Weardale Railway Trust, in partnership with Weardale Railway Limited, will start to install the connecting path between there and the Weardale Railway platform at Bishop Auckland West, 420 yards away.
Accessibility
The previous route involved a circuitous walk around the B&Q superstore and Post Office sorting office over uneven ground. Access to the new connection will be via the Bishop Trains Travel Centre at Bishop Auckland.
The footpath project – a major achievement that has been on the revivalists’ wish list since the railway was reopened to Bishop Auckland in 2010 – has also involved the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership.
A spokesman for the heritage line said: “We are confident that this much-needed connection will be of enormous benefit to the users of the Weardale Railway.”
Looking from Bishop Auckland west to east, the track in the foreground is the connecting line to the national rail network. The Weardale Railway and Network Rail buffer stops will remain in place for now. The alignment of the tracks are laid such that they could eventually be connected.
JOHN ASKWITH/WR