Cambrian Heritage Railways welcomes a pair of 'Pacers
CAMBRIAN Heritage Railways (CHR) has acquired a pair of Class 144 'Pacer' diesel rail buses from Porterbrook Leasing.
Unit Nos. 144006/7 travelled under their own power to Gobowen from storage at the Keighley Worth Valley Railway on May 22.
Most ofthe class has been stored on the heritage line during the coronavirus crisis to ease space on depots.
The units are currently stored in Gobowen station's old coal yard and are expected to move to Cambrian's Oswestry headquarters in due course. In the immediate future, the 'Pacers'will be available for use on CHR services from Oswestry to Weston Wharf, where a new station is rapidly taking shape alongside the popular Stonehouse micro-brewery visitor centre.
Crucially, the 'Pacers' provide modern rolling stock with which to operate the Oswestry to Gobowen community rail service CHR is promoting with a number of local stakeholders.
Earlier this year, CHR submitted a bid to the Department for Transport's £500million Restoring Your Railway Fund to reopen the line between Gobowen and Oswestry, a bid backed by North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson and the Chester Shrewsbury Rail Partnership.
CHR already has the legal powers to operate the line.
CHR chairman Roger Date, said:"We are immensely grateful to Porterbrook for all their help and to the Community Rail Partnership for making the introductions and working with us so positively over the past 12 months. "It has assisted us with our aspiration to deliver a community rail service and bring economic benefits to the area:1