The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Nene Valley Railway in appeal for volunteers
Nene Valley Railway has issued an urgent appeal for volunteers to help install new sleepers to its tracks.
The city’s heritage railway, which is run entirely by volunteers, has over 7.5 miles of track much of it laid over 40 years ago by a group of volunteers.
Those volunteers came together to form the Peterborough Railway Society, which then became Nene Valley Railway.
There is a stretch of these tracks, near Castor, that now requires urgent attention.
Five hundred sleepers need replacing to enable the trains to run at the maximum permitted speed of 25mph.
Due to the repairs needed, this stretch of rail is currently only able to allow speeds of 10mph.
The railway requires help changing these on the following dates: - Week commencing April 25: Monday to Friday - Week commencing May 2: Tuesday to Friday - Week commencing May 23: Monday to Friday
A spokesperson for Nene Valley Railway said: “NVR is a charity and has some 300 plus working volunteers who cover a range of disciplines which allow the trains to run – from servicing and maintaining the loco’s and carriages, to its buildings and platforms through to the track and signalling.
“As you can imagine, keeping everything in good working order to a standard laid out by the Office of Rail and Road, is labour intensive.
"It requires both men and women to dedicate time, energy and love, all free of charge to help keep the railway running.
“Can you and your colleagues/friends/ family help us?
“You need to be in reasonable health, be able to work in a team under the careful direction of our Track Manager and be happy to be working out in the open air.
"We ask that any volunteers are over the age of 18.
“We will have welfare facilities available each day out on site.
“If you are interested in assisting us, please contact 01780 784444 or email adminassistant@nvr.org.uk with your name and contact details.”
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