A £1.5 million Survival Fund appeal has been launched today by the Severn Valley Railway.
The railway, which runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, has issued a stark warning that unless there is an urgent injection of cash, the viable future of the railway could be at risk.
Writing to more than 25,000 shareholders, members and donors, the railway has explained how the cost-of-living crisis, supply issues and the war in Ukraine have all affected the railway.
Donations of any size can be made over on the dedicated Severn Valley Railway Survival Fund Appeal website
“We're facing the double whammy of escalating costs and lower revenue,” said Chris Walton, who recently took on the role of interim chairman of SVR (Holdings) Plc, the railway's operating company. “Costs across the railway have spiralled, including utilities, coal, diesel, steel, copper, catering supplies and interest rates. For example, in the past 12 months alone, our electricity bill has more than doubled, and this year it will not be far short of £500,000. All of these factors are outside our control. Put this against the fact that passenger numbers were down last year by about a third, compared to pre-Covid. That equated to around £1.5 million in lost revenue, which has left us badly weakened.”
Launched jointly by the three companies that form the Severn Valley Railway – SVR (Holdings) Plc, the SVR Company Ltd and the SVR Charitable Trust, the Survival Fund appeal has been comes after a number of cost saving measures have been put in place. This includes recruitment freezes for non-essential roles as well as voluntary and compulsory redundancies.
Fewer running days have been part of plans for the first months of the season, to help cut costs, and will be reviewed in May.
Jonathan ‘Gus' Dunster is the SVR's interim managing director. He gave a reassurance that despite the challenges being faced, he believes the railway will attract and impress visitors this year: “Our programme of events and services this year is as vibrant as ever. It is crucially important to us to continue to attract visitors, as this will play a huge part in getting us through the challenges we face. We're confident we can deliver on and surpass visitor expectations. However, operating a heritage railway is a cyclical business,. For several months at the beginning of each year, there's very little income, because we're not open to the public. Pre-Covid, we got ourselves through this lean time by having a cash reserve in the bank. But that option has been taken away by the combined financial challenges of the past three years. Unless we address this situation urgently, we won't be able to lift the railway out of the financial difficulties it's now facing. The Survival Fund will help us through the coming, very difficult year, in order to start 2024 with a sufficient ‘reserve'. Then we'll stand a real chance of getting the railway properly back on its feet, so it can thrive and be fit for the future.”
“We place huge value on the support the SVR has received over the years,” added SVR interim chairman Chris Walton. “This has helped it to grow from its humble beginnings in the 1960s into one of the UK's leading, award-winning and much-loved heritage railways. It's meant the preservation of our buildings, infrastructure, locomotives, rolling stock and artefacts for future generations to enjoy, and it brings pleasure to many thousands of people each year, generating tremendous economic benefit for the surrounding communities. We would not be making this appeal if it wasn't completely necessary for the survival of the Railway, and we hope our supporters will understand the difficulties we face, and give us their backing.”
Other plans include a structure with charitable status at its heart, and new income streams such as Gift Aid and grant funding.~
To enable the restructuring work to take place, an application for funding has been made to National Lottery Heritage Fund
Donations of any size can be made over on the dedicated Severn Valley Railway Survival Fund Appeal website
In addition, the Severn Valley Railway are holding their Spring Steam Gala on 14th-16th April, so is a perfect opportunity to visit and support the railway.
RailAdvent Plus members can also get a discount on tickets for the Severn Valley Railway gala
The timetable as it stands will loose the visitors. Most ordinary visitors visit a heritage railway to travel behind steam but the timetable is diesel oriented. Unfortunately. this position places the railway between a rock and hard place having to balance costs and visitor expectations.
Might I suggest that painting rebuilt Bullied Pacifics in strange colours may be a reason for fewer visitors?
Most visitors these days are not railway enthusiasts and couldn’t care what colour the locos are painted.
Yes, most railway visitors are Joe and Josie Ordinary, who want a pleasant day out for the family, in a place with plenty of nostalgia – which does NOT include engines looking like modern trains.
Sure, few of our passengers know anything about railways at all – but they can ALL tell the difference between the garish things they see in mainline stations as compared to Thomas the Tank Engine and ‘The Railway Children’.
£60 each shareholder should donate and its covered
Highly unlikely that they will offer anything after the shareholder debacle on the railway.