A FORMAL partnership has been established between Network Rail (NR) and the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) to allow each to benefit from the other’s expertise, technology and facilities to help maintain and improve both networks.
NR’s Central route will offer the SVR professional skills, advice and redundant railway materials, while the SVR will provide support, training and facilities to help NR staff operate and maintain more traditional railway technology – such as semaphore signalling and lever frame signal boxes.
Describing it as a“perfect partnership,”Denise Wetton, NR’s Central route director, said:“Being able to access the SVR’s traditional infrastructure when the line is closed to the public and trains aren’t running allows learning to happen in a much safer environment and is something which is very difficult to do on the main network.”