Severn Valley Railway Returns to Daily Running, with a Big Smile on its Face
The Severn Valley Railway returns to daily train operation from Monday (for schools half-term holiday week) with a big smile on its face, after learning this week that passenger and revenue figures for 2008 far exceeded all expectations.
Despite a ‘short year’ - services between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth didn’t start until Easter because of repairs to the devastating flood damage of 2007 - the railway carried more than 238,000 passengers - a result which SVR managers have described as “phenomenal”.
“If the passenger and visitor levels we saw from April to December had been reflected over a 12-month year instead of just nine months, we might now be celebrating a new all-time passenger record” said a buoyant John Leach, SVR Marketing Manager.
The Railway’s best-ever year was in 2005, when more than 252,000 people explored the 16-mile former Great Western Railway line and its superbly-restored collection of steam locomotives. But if the 2008 figures were extrapolated over 12 months, John Leach explains, the SVR could have been celebrating a final figure of 260,000+ passengers.
As it is, 2008 was a record year for the SVR - for revenue earnings. The railway turned over £5.4 million from all sources, with Sunday Luncheon trains, drive-a-loco courses and private-hire carriages (weddings, birthdays etc) all producing much-improved results.
The new Engine House Visitor and Education Centre at Highley which opened its doors for the first time last Easter earned £281,000, while contract engineering in the railway’s workshops added a further £293,000. The biggest earner for the SVR - as always - was fares and special events which produced takings of £2.21 million, tailed close behind by catering and bars which produced a turnover of £1.538m.
Locomotive driving courses which allow enthusiastic amateurs to take control of SVR steam locomotives under professional supervision, brought in a further £113,000.
The final profit-and-loss and balance sheets won’t be confirmed until later in the year - but despite the record earnings, it seems highly unlikely that the SVR will make any surplus from 2008, the colossal cost of flood damage repairs - more than £3 million - easily gobbling up any trading profit.
Nine days of continuous steam operations begin tomorrow (Saturday February 14th), and continue through half-term week with four departures each way from Monday to Friday, starting from Bridgnorth at 10.10am, and from Kidderminster at 10.25am.
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