Heritage railway repair tracks laid at zero cost

The landslip, pictured in February, closed about four miles of track

A heritage railway has said tracks have been re-laid across its newly-repaired bridge at zero cost.

The Severn Valley Railway railway runs for 16 miles from Kidderminster in Worcestershire to Bridgnorth in Shropshire, and suffered a landslip in January.

Now, with the line opening on Friday to welcome the Flying Scotsman, tracks have been put in place across the Mor Brook bridge thanks to help from mainline railway companies.

"I started making phone calls to contacts in the rail industry, and was completely knocked out by their willingness to get involved and the generosity of so many companies," said Severn Valley Railway director Steve Featherstone.

"Whilst repairs to the embankment and bridge structure were covered largely by insurance, the track re-lay element wasn't," he said.

"In record time, this superb team has been able to carry out a task that would have taken the railway's own very small permanent way gang around three weeks to complete. It's made all the difference, and we are hugely grateful."

The effort saw volunteers bring in people, equipment and consumables at no cost to the heritage line - they dubbed the team the "Orange Army Volunteer All Stars."

Companies taking part included some closer to home, like Stafford-based Ap Webb and Birmingham-based AWE Technologies, as well as those from further afield like National Rail and Balfour Beatty.

About 30m of the track and track bed were damaged in the landslip between the Bridgnorth and Hampton Loade stations. It meant that trains could not operate there.

The Flying Scotsman will celebrate the railway's reopening on 25 July, and will also run on 26 and 27 July as part of the Swingin' Sixties event, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the line in preservation.