The Severn Valley Railway in preservation
History
Opening dates
Services on the SVRSevern Valley Railway began progressively as follows:
- May 1970: Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade. This section had been closed by BRBritish Rail or British Railways in 1963.
- May 1974: Hampton Loade to Bewdley (services as far as Highley began a month earlier). The SVRSevern Valley Railway also acquired the line between Bewdley and Foley Park, although this was only used on special occasions such as 'Enthusiasts Events'. BRBritish Rail or British Railways’s use of Bewdley Station and the Foley Park connection had ended in 1970 when onward services from Bewdley ceased.
- July 1984: Bewdley to Kidderminster. Use of the last portion under BRBritish Rail or British Railways ownership for commercial traffic from Foley Park to Kidderminster had ended in 1982. BRBritish Rail or British Railways would continue to use the existing station at Kidderminster as part of the Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester line. As it was not feasible to share this station, the SVRSevern Valley Railway built their own adjacent station, Kidderminster Town.
Other notable events
- 1965: Formation of the Severn Valley Railway Society.
- 1967: Arrival of the first locomotives and carriages at Bridgnorth. Formation of the Guarantee Company
- 1968: Public Inquiry into the granting of the Light Railway Order.
- 1972: Floatation of SVR(H)
- 1973: The ‘ Nabarro crisis’
- 1978: First SVRSevern Valley Railway-based steam locomotive to haul a main line rail tour
- 1982: Last use of Eardington as a request stop
- 1983: Completion of Bridgnorth Bypass Bridge, Bridgnorth embankment collapse
- 1985: City of Truro ‘April Fool’
- 1986: Bewdley Bypass Bridge completed
- 1987: Kidderminster Signal Box commissioned
- 1990: Bridgnorth Boiler Shop opened, Kidderminster Railway Museum opened
- 1993: First overnight running at an Autumn Steam Gala
- 1996: Country Park Halt opened
- 2000: Locomotive fleet ravaged by the ‘boiler crisis’
- 2003: Kidderminster Carriage Shed built
- 2006: Kidderminster station building East wing and canopy completed
- 2007: Last SVRSevern Valley Railway-based steam locomotive to haul a main line rail tour
- 2007: The railway suffered massive storm damage
- 2008: Opening of The Engine House
- 2010: 40th Anniversary of operations on the SVRSevern Valley Railway
- 2015: 50th Anniversary of the SVRSevern Valley Railway in preservation
- 2016: Diesel Depot built
- 2018: Bridgnorth Development Project phase 1 opened
- 2025: 60th Anniversary of the SVRSevern Valley Railway in preservation
Follow the links below to see a history of the SVRSevern Valley Railway in preservation by year.
| Severn Valley Railway timeline since 1965 | |
|---|---|
| 1965-1969 | 1965 * 1966 * 1967 * 1968 * 1969 |
| 1970-1979 | 1970 * 1971 * 1972 * 1973 * 1974 * 1975 * 1976 * 1977 * 1978 * 1979 |
| 1980-1989 | 1980 * 1981 * 1982 * 1983 * 1984 * 1985 * 1986 * 1987 * 1988 * 1989 |
| 1990-1999 | 1990 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1994 * 1995 * 1996 * 1997 * 1998 * 1999 |
| 2000-2009 | 2000 * 2001 * 2002 * 2003 * 2004 * 2005 * 2006 * 2007 * 2008 * 2009 |
| 2010-2019 | 2010 * 2011 * 2012 * 2013 * 2014 * 2015 * 2016 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 |
| 2020-2029 | 2020 * 2021 * 2022 * 2023 * 2024 * 2025 * |
Current Organisation
The present day Severn Valley Railway (SVRSevern Valley Railway) is made up of three companies:[1]
- Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC, usually abbreviated to “SVRSevern Valley Railway(H)”, is the public company that owns the railway’s infrastructure. The SVRSevern Valley Railway has around 15,000 shareholders, who own a stake in this company.
- Severn Valley Railway Company Limited, commonly referred to as “the Guarantee Company”, is the SVRSevern Valley Railway’s membership arm and provides the volunteers who help to operate the railway. The Guarantee Company owns approximately 17.75% of SVRSevern Valley Railway(H).[2] The SVRSevern Valley Railway has around 10,000 members, who are automatically members of this company (all of the around 1,700 volunteers must be members).
- Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Ltd, “the Charitable Trust”, raises funds to support the SVRSevern Valley Railway. The objectives are to raise funds for the long-term preservation of rolling stock belonging to the trust and station buildings, track and other associated infrastructure. It also includes the education for the benefit of the public and provision of education and skills training.[3]
In December 2024 the SVRSevern Valley Railway announced plans for a 'bold restructure', intended to bring together the three separate companies that currently make up the SVRSevern Valley Railway into a new 'One Railway' structure. Subject to approval by the Railway's shareholders and members at EGM's in 2025, this would be achieved in stages by i) the conversion of SVRSevern Valley Railway(H) into a Charitable Community Benefit Society (CCBS), ii) the amalgamation of the newly formed CCBS with the Guarantee Company, and iii) the inclusion of the Charitable Trust with the CCBS as soon as its circumstances allow.[4]
The Severn Valley Railway Association, “SVRASevern Valley Railway Association” was a separate group run by working volunteers with the objective of providing support to the SVRSevern Valley Railway membership, and particularly the working volunteers. The SVRASevern Valley Railway Association was merged into the Guarantee Company in October 2015.[5]
The Severn Valley Railway's Head Office is at 1 Comberton Place, Kidderminster, DY10 1QR.
Internally the SVRSevern Valley Railway is organised into a number of departments, principally as follows:
Motive Power Department (MPDMotive Power Depot)
- Bridgnorth Locomotive Works (Engineering Services)
- Bridgnorth Boiler Shop
- Locomotive Crew
Operating Department
- Train crew
- Signalling
- Stations and Booking Offices
- Rostering
Signal Engineering IT and Telecommunications Permanent Way (P.W.Permanent Way Department) Carriages and Wagons Catering, Bars and Buffet Cars
Chairmen
A list of Chairmen, and those holding the title of President/Patron of SVRSevern Valley Railway(H), is as follows:
Severn Valley Railway Society
- Tony Tuite 1965
- John Garth 1965-1966, 1967-1969
The Guarantee Company
- Andrew Marsden-Smedley 1969-1971
- Sir Gerald Nabarro 1971-1973
- Richard Dunn 1973-1975
- Hugh Mossop 1975-1976 (acting Chairman)
- John Garth 1976-1979
- David Williams 1979-2020
- Diane Malyon 2020-
SVRSevern Valley Railway(H)
- Sir Gerald Nabarro 1972-1973
- Viscount Garnock 1973-1975
- Hugh Mossop 1975-1976
- Bill Broadbent 1976-1987
- John Garth 1987-1989
- David Owen 1989-1993
- Mick York 1993-1999, 2002-2011
- Paul Fathers 1999-2002
- Nick Paul C.B.E. 2011-2021
- Mike Ball 2021-2023
- Chris Walton 2023-
- President:
- Viscount Cobham 1972-1976
- David, Earl of Lindsay 1976-1989
- The position of President has not been occupied since, although a number of retired Chairmen and other long-serving officials have been given the honorary position of Vice-President. At the end of 2021 there were 9 current Vice-Presidents.[6]
- Patron
- HRH The Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO, GCStJ 1997-
Severn Valley Railway Association See SVRA Chairmen
SVRSevern Valley Railway Charitable Trust
- The SVRSevern Valley Railway Rolling Stock Trust Company Limited:
- Chris Thomas: 2002
- Alan Osborne: 2003-2005
- Chris Thomas: 2006-2007
- Hugh McQuade: 2008-2012
- Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Limited
- Hugh McQuade 2012-2019
- John Leftwich 2019-2020
- Peter Copsey 2020-2021 (Acting interim Chairman)
- Keith Norton 2021-2022
- Tim Hargest 2022-2023 (Acting Chairman)
- Ron Treverton-Jones 2023-2024
- Judith Meredith 2024-
General Managers
The General Manager is the leading manager of both SVRSevern Valley Railway(H) and the Guarantee Company. SVRSevern Valley Railway General Managers have been as follows:
- Bill Gillett (1969-1972)
- Hugh Mossop* (1972-1976)
- Michael Draper* (1976-1993)
- Alun Rees (1993-2006)
- Colin Binch (2006)[7]
- Nick Ralls (2007-2019).[8]
- Helen Smith* (2019-2023). Helen became Managing Director of SVRSevern Valley Railway(H) in 2021.
- Jonathan Dunster* (2023- ), Managing Director
Those marked with an asterisk were also Directors of SVRSevern Valley Railway(H).
See also
- The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership
- The Severn Valley Railway on the main line
- SVR Passenger numbers
- SVR timetables
References
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway website
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway(G) 2017 report and accounts, p.5
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway Charitable Trust website
- ↑ SVR Website news announcement, (retrieved 12 December 2024)
- ↑ SVRASevern Valley Railway Association website
- ↑ SVRSevern Valley Railway News 215
- ↑ 'Railway chief leaves position', Kidderminster Shuttle, 21 September 2006 (Retrieved 4 April 2019)
- ↑ Shropshire Live 25 June 2019 (Retrieved 28 June 2019)
