Heritage railway boss hits out at diesel hikes

Rising diesel prices are adding to the financial pressures facing the Severn Valley Railway, with its managing director describing the increase as "very unwelcome".

The heritage attraction, which runs services between Shropshire and Worcestershire, uses diesel locomotives for about a quarter of its trains.

Managing director, Gus Dunster, said a 35% rise in the cost of industrial diesel was "significant", creating another challenge for a business already facing rising operating costs.

"It just makes what is already quite a challenge, even more of a challenge," he said.

The railway introduced diesel locomotives in 2013 as a way of reducing costs associated with running steam services.

Dunster said enough trains had to operate across the line's 16-mile (26km) route to allow visitors to travel its full length.

"We run the majority of our locomotives with steam, but going back as far as 2013 we introduced our diesel locomotives because of the cost of coal and the cost of steam," he said.

"So to make our attraction viable to visitors you have to put enough trains on the railway to enable them to get up and down the whole length of it.

"We put on some services - about a quarter of our services - using diesel."

The railway took delivery of 20,000 litres of industrial diesel last week, Dunster revealed.

He said recent increases in fuel prices had added to the challenges already facing the heritage attraction.

"We're facing cost pressures all over the place, like all businesses, and when you're really trying to manage them and manage your cash flow and really keep your business viable, this is yet another external issue you could do without," he said.

"It just makes what is already quite a challenge, even more of a challenge. It's very unwelcome."

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