| Weardale Railway | |
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| Stanhope Station, 2004 | |
| Locale | County Durham |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Weardale Railway |
| Preserved operations | |
| Length | 25 mi (40 km) |
| Commercial history | |
| Closed | Partially in 1960 and 1992 |
| Preservation history | |
| Late 2009 | Reconnection to national network |
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Legend
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The Weardale Railway is a British single-track branch line railway providing regular daily passenger service between Bishop Auckland (West), Wolsingham, Frosterley and Stanhope. Services began on 23 May 2010 after a lapse of almost sixty years. The railway originally ran from Bishop Auckland to Wearhead in County Durham, a distance of about 25 miles (40 km). It was built in the nineteenth century to carry passenger and freight traffic. As late as 1993 the line remained in use as part of the national network, serving a large cement works at Eastgate (latterly owned by the Lafarge group) and providing a summer Sundays-only passenger service between Bishop Auckland and Stanhope.
The rails were lifted in the 1960s from the extreme western section of the line between Eastgate and Wearhead (passing through Westgate and St John's Chapel, County Durham). The trackbed itself has been removed in at least one place on this last section.
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In 1993 British Rail announced its intention to close the line following the loss of the line's last significant commercial customer. In March of that year, Lafarge decided to service the Eastgate cement works by road and end its use of rail. Local authorities sought another use for the line and considered that the only immediate possibility was a steam-hauled tourist service.
The Weardale Railway preservation project was founded in 1993, when British Rail ended freight and passenger services on the line. The intention was that a private company should take ownership of the line and start a steam service for tourists on the scenic western section. The operating company was known as the Weardale Railways Ltd, a company limited by guarantee. Its early Directors included well known railway enthusiasts such as Sir William McAlpine, Pete Waterman, Ian Allan and David Bellamy, although most of these individuals withdrew from the project before it was able to start services.
The Weardale Railway Trust (WRT) is a voluntary group whose members are supporters of the project. WRT was initially just a "supporters' club" but it assumed a more prominent role as Weardale Railways Ltd got into difficulties. In 2006 WRT took a 12.5% minority stake in the ownership of Weardale Railways Ltd.
Large sums of public sector grant finance were obtained or conditionally pledged from various donors including the regional development agency (One NorthEast), Durham County Council and the Wear Valley District Council. The Manpower Services Commission contributed to the wages of paid staff in what had become an area of high unemployment, and this allowed a 40-strong workforce to be recruited, a depot and base of operations to be established at Wolsingham and the station at Stanhope to be restored. Services started in July 2004, initially from Wolsingham to Stanhope but with the intention of extending them along the full length of the remaining line. There were even plans to rebuild the Eastgate to Wearhead section which had been lifted.
Eventually, a community interest company known as Ealing Community Transport agreed to pay £100,000 for a 75% stake in Weardale Railways Ltd and provide management support to the project.[1] Ealing Community Transport also agreed to underwrite any further operating losses incurred by Weardale Railways Ltd. This undertaking was sufficient to allow the creditors of Weardale Railways Ltd to permit the resumption of limited services on the line in August 2006.[2]
In September 2008, Ealing Community Transport's 75% interest in WRC was transferred to British American Railway Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of US private company Iowa Pacific Holdings.[3][4] Ed Ellis, the spokesman for these firms, visited the Weardale Railway in October 2008, and announced an intention to reopen the line to Bishop Auckland by the end of 2008.
In October 2008, the line's paid staff and volunteers undertook the "Brush Blitz" to clear 14 years of vegetation growth from the track between Wolsingham and Bishop Auckland.[5] After two damaged sections of track were repaired, in early 2009 a passenger-carrying Wickham trolley (light rail vehicle) was able to negotiate the line from Wolsingham to within sight of Bishop Auckland station. Ellis also announced plans to build a rail freight terminal at Eastgate for the loading of aggregates from local quarries together with other freight, including mineral, food and agricultural commodities.[6][7]
On 27 March 2009 the railway's website reported that Network Rail had undertaken to re-install missing points and crossings at Bishop Auckland to reconnect the Weardale Line with the national rail network. It was stated that this would be done before 31 July 2009. Network Rail completed the connection in early September 2009.[8] On 29 September 2009, the development of the Eastgate Renewable Energy Village received unanimous outline approval by the County Durham strategic planning committee, thus providing a potential boost to the line's future prospects.
In December 2009, it was announced that UK Coal was interested in using the line to transport coal from an opencast (open pit) coal mine in the line's catchment area[9] and that local quarry owners had been approached about the possibility of shipping aggregates along the line. This is intended to ensure the future of the line as a viable business.[10]
On 25 January 2010, Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate travelled on the Weardale line checking bridges, fences and crossings along the 18-mile stretch between Stanhope and Bishop Auckland. Only a few minor works were needed to get the line ready for passenger use, and these were completed in time for a London King's Cross to Stanhope charter train to run.[11] In February 2010, this became the first mainline passenger service to travel the line since the 1980s. It was followed on 27 February by a railtour from Crewe to Stanhope, operated by Spitfire Railtours.
Regular passenger services to Bishop Auckland started on 23 May 2010.[12]
The railway is currently negotiating contracts to transport stone and aggregates out of Weardale, and has recently received planning permission to load opencast coal, mined in the Crook area, at its depot in Wolsingham. The first loaded coal train left Wolsingham on 16 June 2011 bound for steel works in Scunthorpe. It is hoped that this will become a five-train-a-week operation.[13]
A 2006 Virgin Trains commercial featuring a train being attacked by Indians (Native Americans) on horseback was partly filmed on the Weardale line.