Covid-19: Severn Valley Railway gets £1m recovery grant

The railway started a fundraising campaign last year to help keep it going

The Severn Valley Railway (SVR) has been awarded a grant of more than £1m in the face of the "huge losses" it has so far incurred during the pandemic.

The heritage railway started a fundraising campaign in 2020 which was able to raise £930,000 as it coped with closure due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The latest government grant will pay salaries and running costs from October to January 2022, SVR said.

It will make a "huge difference" to its recovery, chairman Mike Ball said.

The heritage line, which runs between Kidderminster in Worcestershire and Bridgnorth in Shropshire, is one of 140 organisations to benefit from £15.5m through the government's Culture Recovery Fund.

Helen Smith, SVR managing director, said: "The last 20 months have been some of the most difficult in the railway's history.

"We have suffered huge losses."

When the railway reopened in August 2020, it said it had been losing about £500,000 a month due to the pandemic.