DARTMOOR AND WEARDALE RAILWAYS ARE PUT UP FOR SALE

The Dartmoor and Weardale railways have been put up for sale by their owner, British American Railway Services.

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iowa Pacific Holdings, which owns and operates a number of railways in the US and overseas, and which went into receivership last year.

Kevin Richardson, chairman of the Weardale Railway Trust, said: “We are disappointed to learn that BARS, who are the majority shareholders in Weardale Railway CIC [the railway’s operating company], has announced the offer for sale of all its UK businesses.

“The trust is fully engaged with the process of looking to find a suitable partner to take over from BARS and will make strenuous efforts to preserve the Weardale Railway.”

Elsewhere, the Dartmoor Railway Supporters Association, which provides rolling stock and staffing for the line’s heritage services, said of the situation: “The association is not privy to any policy issues on the Dartmoor Railway currently operated by Dartmoor Railway Community Interest Company (DRCIC). No-one from DRCIC management or the owning organisation BARS has, to date, contacted us about the sale of DRCIC or changes to the leasing arrangements between them and Aggregate Industries and Devon County Council.”

However, it added that it welcomed “any moves that will speed up the reintroduction of daily train services between the growing town of Okehampton, the city of Exeter and beyond. Ideally, the DRSA would like the Okehampton line to the boundary with Network Rail’s North Devon line at Coleford (near Yeoford) to again be part of the national rail network.

“Until more is known, it is difficult for us to reliably speculate on the possible future options.”

Steam Railway has been unable to contact either BARS or Iowa Pacific Holdings for further comment regarding its decision to sell both railways, as well as Wakefield-based engineering firm RMS Locotec.