COAL CRISIS: Minister embarks on fact-finding tour of the UK’s heritage lines
A GOVERNMENT minister will visit steam railways this summer as the campaign to secure the future of the sector against the background of diminishing coal supplies takes another major step forward.
Two high-level meetings with ministers from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on consecutive days in late June have secured vital support for heritage lines in the fight to secure their longterm future, said a statement from the Heritage Railway Association.
Representatives from the heritage sector met Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Arts, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, in Westminster on June 28. Spearheaded by HRA president Lord Faulkner of Worcester, the meeting was the direct result of debate in the House of Lords about the perilous state of steam coal supply to the heritage sector caused by the end of UK mining and the war in Ukraine.
Critical to tourism
The meeting, attended by HRA chief executive Steve Oates, James Hervey-Bathurst, chairman of the Heritage Fuels Alliance, and Heritage Rail all-party parliamentary group secretary Chris Austin, highlighted the substantial economic and tourism benefits that heritage steam delivers.
Heritage railways generate more than £600 million for the UK economy each year and are critical to the tourism economy of many areas. The UK sector has more than 170 heritage railways, attracts more than 13 million visitors annually, directly employs 4000 people, and is supported by a 22,000 volunteers.
Steam railways produce less than 0.02% of UK carbon emissions.
Government officials are now set to co-ordinate a meeting between DCMS and the other departments with an interest in the supply of coal to the heritage steam sector – the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The HRA was also arranging several visits to heritage railways during the coming months to give Lord Parkinson opportunities to learn more about the sector and its challenges.
The following day, Liz SavilleRoberts MP, group leader of Plaid Cymru in the House of Commons and co-chairman of the Heritage Rail All-Party Parliamentary Group, joined Lord Faulkner in a meeting with DCMS Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, Nigel Huddleston MP. His department is responsible for the planned Stockton & Darlington Railway 200th anniversary celebrations in 2025, in which the part played by steam power in the development of Britain’s railways will feature strongly.
Mr Huddleston indicated that funding sources may be available to aid research and development into longer-term alternatives to coal for locomotives.
Lord Faulkner said: “The solution to the need to establish a long-term, reliable supply of fuel for steam locomotives is not going be found quickly but these meetings are yet further evidence that progress is being made and I am encouraged by the positive responses of both DCMS ministers we met.
“It is clear that they understand the importance of heritage rail to the cultural and economic prosperity of the country – and how vital the supply of steam locomotive fuel is to that.”
Liz Saville Roberts said: “The future of heritage railways is vital, particularly in constituencies like mine in Dwyfor Meirionydd, where the Great Little Trains of Wales are a mainstay of the economy. We have worked hard to bring those involved together to look at alternative supplies and alternatives to coal to keep the trains running.”
‘Solid progress’
Steve Oates said:“These meetings represent solid progress, but they are also important incremental steps to achieving what the heritage railway sector needs – stability and long-term security of steam locomotive operation for generations to come.
“In the immediate future we need governments to look sensibly at the controlled extraction of highquality UK steam coal specifically for responsible, low-volume users like heritage rail as the most sustainable and environmentally conscious solution available right now.”
The entire heritage steam sector in the UK – including traction engines, steamboats, and stationary engines – use around 35,000 tons of coal each year. By comparison, about 5,000,000 tonnes of coal is still used annually in the UK by industries like steel and cement – in addition to a resurgent demand for power generation following Government announcements that coal-fuelled power stations would be asked to extend their operations beyond autumn.