THE Severn Valley Railway has received a £250,000 National Lottery grant to help it survive the coronavirus pandemic.
The heritage railway is preparing to reopen in August after being unable to generate any passenger income since March, when the attraction was forced to close due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Since then, the railway has been mothballed, with the majority of paid staff put on furlough. The SVR fears it could face a loss of up to £6 million this year.
The 16-mile route from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth will welcome back visitors on August 1 and bosses say the huge Lottery Heritage Fund grant has given them hope for its future.
General manager Helen Smith said: "Thanks to the National Lottery and its players we can now get the SVR through the next few months.
"We will use this funding to pay our staff as they come back from furlough to prepare the railway for reopening. We will also invest in new IT so that more staff can work remotely.
"These measures will ensure we can start to generate some much-needed passenger revenue to offset the potential losses we are facing.
“We’re grateful that The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time – it’s a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all.
“This funding is additional to more than £750,000 that we’ve raised through our own fundraising appeal, the Fight Back Fund, thanks to generous donations from the public, along with purchases of SVR shares.”
Tickets for the Severn Valley Railway are on sale at svr.co.uk or by calling 01562 757900.
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