The Mid Norfolk Railway has confirmed that they are working with partners and have applied for Government funding to complete a feasibility study into restoring regular passenger services on the line.
The Consortium of which the MNR is a member has submitted one of the 50 applications that were announced recently by the Department for Transport.
The Mid Norfolk Railway Consortium includes the MNR, Greater Anglia, Brecklands Council and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership.
Charlie Robinson, the Chairman of the Railway, said: “This bid is for Government money to conduct a feasibility study into the practicality of reopening the line from Dereham to Wymondham to restore a regular passenger service on the line and then onward to Norwich.”
He added: “Let me be clear however as the Chairman of the Railway Trust, we are not seeking to handover our railway to Network Rail, so that a Train Operating Company such as Greater Anglia can run a daily passenger service, rather we want to explore how the MNR can develop in the future for the good of the local community. We fully intend to maintain our heritage roots.
The Mid Norfolk Railway runs on a restored section of the former line that ran from Wymondham to Wells next the Sea.
The last passenger service ran from Dereham to Wells in 1964 and from King's Lynn to Norwich via Dereham in 1968.
The MNR has now successfully refurbished the line from Wymondham to just short of North Elmham. The MNR owns the trackbed between North Elmham and County School station which has already been restored.
The railway has been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but has seen rail operations thanks to partnerships with Greater Anglia, DRS and GB Railfreight.
George Saville the General Manager of the MNR, “The operating model for the railway has always included working with commercial partners to extend the use of our tracks, such operations are a key part of how we run the railway and as such contribute to our income that allows the heritage side of the operation to function. Joining the Consortium to seek funding for a feasibility study therefore is a natural development for the railway”.
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I can see this being run for the good of all parties.
The MNR regularly gets involved in training emergency services according to Wikipedia and recently, Network Rail set up a test of an innovative level crossing design on theMNR.
They also get used for loading Army vehicles.
It looks to me, that if you have a problem, that needs a railway and you talk to the MNR, they’ll try to accommodate you.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Greater Anglia running a service to Dereham from Norwich, as it would improve commuting into Norwich from a fair area of Norfolk. It might save building some expensive roads.
Good to see the former Greater Anglia carriages now being preserved by Mid Norfolk Railway. Wonderful.
Would that leave county school as the terminus northerly station out of the question cos that was the M.N.R. preservation societys goal of reaching so far north they have got to North Elmham and would only Dereham be the treminus if greater anglia trains decided to run service trains on the line as a commuter route or could the heritage society still run trains on w,ends like whats been considered at the K.V.W.R.?
Would that leave the mid northfolk railway vision of reaching county school out of the question if greater anglia took the line over off the M.N.R. preservation society and only leave Dereham cos its the most populated town on the line?
I Do Hope the Marvellously Well-Preserved ”Mid-Norfolk Railway” Eventually Reopen Back Up & Running Soon.
I still hope to visit this ex-Cross Country Heritage Railway over in East Anglia ‘in-person’ someday… I’d look forward to it, Especially for when the Pandemic maybe over by then.
Good Luck to the MNR on their Study into the Resurrection of their Passenger Train Rides by the way.