The Severn Valley Railway in preservation

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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

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 *

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]

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.[4]

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

Marketing

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

The Guarantee Company

SVRSevern Valley Railway(H)

President:
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.[5]
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:
Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Limited

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:

Those marked with an asterisk were also Directors of SVRSevern Valley Railway(H).

See also

References

  1. SVRSevern Valley Railway website
  2. SVRSevern Valley Railway(G) 2017 report and accounts, p.5
  3. SVRSevern Valley Railway Charitable Trust website
  4. SVRASevern Valley Railway Association website
  5. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 215
  6. 'Railway chief leaves position', Kidderminster Shuttle, 21 September 2006 (Retrieved 4 April 2019)
  7. Shropshire Live 25 June 2019 (Retrieved 28 June 2019)

Links