SEVERN Valley Railway (SVR) has announced plans for voluntary redundancies as it faces a drop in visitor numbers and soaring costs. 

The heritage railway, which runs between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth, says it’s entering the coming year with "strong resolve" and is taking action to protect its business and ensure its future.

Mike Ball, chairman of SVR, said: “When we planned our programme and budgets for 2022, it was on the basis that we would see a gradual return to ‘normal’ pre-pandemic levels of activity as the year progressed.

"This did not happen, and the economic outlook suggests that 2023 may well be worse than 2022.

“What we believed were temporary changes are going to be longer term ones, and we must adapt in order to survive now and thrive in the future.”

The measures announced include changes to staff working patterns, a recruitment freeze and voluntary redundancies.

The railway says it hasn’t ruled out compulsory redundancies but is working hard to avoid these.

The SVR is currently in its annual maintenance shut down period, and will reopen on Saturday, March 4.

Operations will be concentrated into four days a week, using a mix of steam and heritage diesel-hauled services.

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The cost of utilities is one of the biggest expenses that the railway faces, and managers are clamping down on wastage across the 16 miles of the SVR’s line.

They’ve asked volunteers to consolidate their working patterns so that premises only need heating and lighting for minimal times, as well as encouraging work to be put off where possible until the spring and summer, to save on costs.

Helen Smith, the SVR’s managing director added: “We are facing the double problem of a significant drop in passenger revenue and secondary spend alongside escalating costs across all areas of the business.

"The current situation in Ukraine means the cost of utilities to heat and light our premises has rocketed, along with the cost of coal and diesel to power our locomotives.

“We want to make these important changes, in the coming year and beyond, to ensure our award-winning attraction continues to offer an excellent value-for-money experience for visitors".