Following today's announced that Staffordshire Moorlands will be in the new Tier 3 restrictions on the 2nd December 2020, the Churnet Valley Railway has announced that they are unable to operate their upcoming Santa Express trains or any other trains in the festive period.
Any passengers who are booked on trains in either December 2020 or January 2021 will be contacted by the CVR in due course.
The Churnet Valley Railway has told RailAdvent that they are “beyond disappointed” having been following all guidance since their reopening in 1st August 2020.
Offices at the Churnet Valley Railway are still open, but it may take a few days to reply to calls due to the amount of calls they are receiving.
The Churnet Valley Railway has told RailAdvent: “We are beyond disappointed that having complied with all requirements from Government since we reopened on the 1st August 2020, and having been actively encouraged to continue ‘business as usual' despite the circuit break lockdown, we are still having to disappoint our many loyal customers at such late notice – especially at Christmas when many young children will have been looking forward to travelling on the Santa Express.”
“Rest assured we will be back in 2021, and we will have a selection of new and old events for our customers to enjoy and experience.”
“We wish all our customers as Merry Christmas as possible given the current pandemic and we hope for a far better and prosperous 2021.”
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Any railway running Christmas trains this year is arguably being irresponsible, especially those lines that have been given cash to tide them over.
I can imagine that some of the less well-managed are now so desperate for cash that they have no choice – but you have to wonder if a line that is that desperate is really the most likely to be able to operate safely.