In an update on the recovery plan for the Severn Valley Railway, Jonathan Dunster (SVR MD), has highlighted how important commercial diversification is, and called it a crucial element in the railway's recovery plan.
In his update, Jonathan said that ‘“Put simply, the pre-Covid business model for heritage railways is no longer viable and we need to ensure we have other commercial activities in place to support our core activity of running heritage trains.”
The Severn Valley Railway has a mainline connection at Kidderminster, and has recently used that to work on opportunities with Network Rail, GB Railfreight, Colas Rail and Locomotive Services Group.
Additionally, the SVR has played host to the Class 175 units in 1999 when the railway was used to commission the new units. The SVR was used again in 2012 when newly-overhauled Metropolitan E Class No.. 1 was undergoing running in trials.
Jonathan went onto explain that the Severn Valley Railway has a contract in place with Locomotive Services Group for vehicle storage and has recently secured similar work with RailAdventure UK.
In his full statement, Jonathan Dunster sai “Put simply, the pre-Covid business model for heritage railways is no longer viable and we need to ensure we have other commercial activities in place to support our core activity of running heritage trains. On the SVR, we're fortunate in having a connection to Network Rail (NR) and can therefore work in partnership with the main-line industry.
“In recent years we've been working hard to maximise the benefits of this, and companies such as NR, GB Railfreight, Colas Rail, Locomotive Services Group (LSG) and others have provided opportunities for us to work with them, particularly at times of the year when we are not operating trains ourselves.
“We've also hosted main-line operators for team / corporate events, including most recently Colas and Thales. As well as the obvious direct financial benefits these days bring, they invariably lead to other opportunities which benefit the Railway.
“Finally, thanks to our recently elected new board member Steve Featherstone, we're also exploring use of the SVR as a training facility for infrastructure maintenance companies. We have great opportunities for this without the complexities associated with doing such activities on a busy main line route.
“In summary, the key objective is to build the SVR's reputation as a trusted partner of the main-line rail industry, and this is already leading to substantial commercial opportunities as well as exciting engineering benefits.”
Recently travelled on SVR.
Can’t understand why they don’t run more steam locos.
They had to put extra carriages on our train so demand is there but supply is lacking.
I admire what the new MD is doing. Increased visitor numbers are always welcome. However the cost of running a business is now much greater than before covid. Many railways have also realised that the ageing infrastructure is now in need of some very serious money. I know from experience that allowing companies to carry out training can bring many benefits both financial and also practical.
Business models clearly need to change to respond to changing business conditions but I’m puzzled by Jonathan Dunster’s assertion that the “pre-covid business model for the SVR (and other heritage railways) is no longer viable”.
This implies that the pandemic has irrevocably changed people’s leisure time habits for the worse and thus reduced their visits to heritage railways. I guess this must be happening at the SVR to cause Dunster’s remarks, but several other heritage railways have reported increased post-pandemic custom as people who were forced to stay in the UK during the lock-downs have rediscovered attractive pusuits here.
Dunster talks a lot about getting more contracts with the railway industry for testing railway equipment and commissioning new trains. This is clearly a good source of income but I do hope he doesn’t allow this to dominate and thus neglect the heritage aspects of the SVR