Steam & Heritage Track Record Severn Valley Railway ‘adapts to survive’
Savings to be implemented – including concentrating services into four days a week – and managing director to step down from her role in late February.
THE Severn Valley Railway
(SVR) says it is entering this year with ‘strong resolve’ and a determination to meet challenges it expects to encounter.
It said that tourist attractions across the UK continue to be impacted by up to 30% drops in visitor numbers since Covid-19 and this has been made worse by the cost of living crisis. So the railway says it is taking proactive action to protect its business and ensure it comes through to thrive in the future.
The measures announced in mid-January include changes to staff working patterns, a recruitment freeze, voluntary redundancies and proactive steps to save energy usage across the business. The railway says it has not ruled out compulsory redundancies, but is working hard to avoid these.
While the SVR is currently in its annual maintenance shut down period, public trains will resume on March 4. It is planning a mixture of hop-on, hop-off services along with curated excursion-style trips. Operations will be concentrated into four days a week, using a mix of steam- and heritage dieselhauled services.
Plans are being developed for the usual four steam and diesel galas in the spring and autumn, while this summer also sees the return of the SVR’s popular Step Back to the 1940s weekends.
Cost control
The cost of utilities is one of the biggest expenses that the railway faces and waste is being clamped down on across the operation. Volunteers have been asked to consolidate their working patterns so that premises only need heating and lighting for minimal times, as well as encouraging work to be put off where possible until the spring and summer, to save on costs.
The SVR says it remains committed to providing an exciting heritage railway experience for visitors, and alongside regular passenger services, it will continue to hold a range of special events throughout the year, for rail enthusiasts and the general public alike.
Mike Ball, chairman of SVR (Holdings) Plc said: “When we planned our programme and budgets for 2022, it was on the basis that we would see a gradual return to ‘normal’ pre-pandemic levels of activity as the year progressed. This did not happen and the economic outlook suggests that 2023 may well be worse than 2022.
“What we believed were temporary changes are going to be longer term ones, and we must adapt in order to survive now and thrive in the future.
“We are determined to do everything we can now to protect the SVR for future generations to enjoy. The year ahead is going to be critical to achieving that aim.”
Helen Smith, the SVR’s managing director (MD) said: “We are facing the double problem of a significant drop in passenger revenue and secondary spend alongside escalating costs across all areas of the business. The cost of utilities to heat and light our premises has rocketed, along with the cost of coal and diesel to power our locomotives.”
Meanwhile, it was announced in mid-January that Ms Smith is to leave the SVR in late February to take up another role. Jonathan ‘Gus’ Dunster, the SVR’s vice chairman, will take over as interim MD. An SVR volunteer for more than 30 years, Mr Dunster recently retired from his role as Avanti West Coast’s executive director of operations and safety.
Contribution
Mr Ball said: “Helen has made a phenomenal contribution to the SVR. In the three years that she’s been with us she has steered the railway through the devastating impact of Covid-19, ensuring we secured substantial government support and emergency grant funding to keep us going when we were unable to operate.
“She oversaw the reopening of the railway in very changed and testing circumstances, with the country still in partial lockdown.”