Counting the spiralling costs
The Bluebell and Mid-Hants railways have implemented financial restraint measures, while the Severn Valley Railway announces plans for compulsory redundancies to save money.
By Gareth Evans
HOT on the heels of the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) adapting to survive (see last issue), two other major heritage lines have announced a raft of measures to control expenditure.
Following the resignation of Bluebell Railway plc chairman Geoff Mee, Paul Churchman, who has served as chairman of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society, now also chairs the Bluebell Railway plc.
In a stark warning of the importance of control costs, he said: “Everyone needs to be aware that times are hard. We are among many railways that are facing the same problems. We have seen our electricity costs go from £300 a day to more than £1000 a day. The cost of coal has more than doubled and there is no sign of this easing either. It is simply impossible to pass all this on to our passengers, as we would end up charging them £100 for an adult return! “We need to look inwards to see what we can do to mitigate that. The directors and managers are looking at ways we can get more passengers in, be more efficient with the services we run, consolidating trains, removing days we don’t think will earn us any money and adding more premium products such as the ‘Golden Arrow’ (on-train dining) where we can.
Lisez l'article complet et bien d'autres dans ce numéro de
Railway Magazine
Options d'achat ci-dessous
Si le problème vous appartient,
Connexion
pour lire l'article complet maintenant.
Numéro unique numérique
March 2023
Ce numéro et d'autres anciens numéros ne sont pas inclus dans une nouvelle version de l'article
abonnement. Les abonnements comprennent le dernier numéro régulier et les nouveaux numéros publiés pendant votre abonnement.
Railway Magazine
Abonnement numérique annuel
€40,99
facturé annuellement
Abonnement numérique de 6 mois
€21,99
facturé deux fois par an
Abonnement numérique mensuel
€4,99
facturé mensuellement