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Yorkshire Times
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Phil Hopkins
Group Travel Editor & Theatre Correspondent
@philhopkinsuk
9:00 AM 1st May 2020
travel

Steam Railway Cancels Wartime Event

 
Popular tourist attraction, The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has announced that this year’s Railway in Wartime event has been cancelled and will not be taking place in October as originally planned.

Chris Price, General Manager of NYMR said: “The cancellation of this year’s Railway in Wartime event will no doubt come as a terrible blow to our incredible staff, volunteers and reenactors who work so hard to make this event happen each and every year.

“However, the three-day event welcomes over 30,000 visitors, and involves many, many man-hours to both plan and execute. 95% of our staff are currently furloughed; we just don’t have the resource at present to pull this off.

“Not to mention, the railway is forecasting a loss of more than £1 million over the upcoming weeks and the upfront costs of the Railway in Wartime event are extremely high. Given the current uncertainties as a result of COVID-19, we have yet to confirm an opening date for the 2020 season, and the next 12-24 months are going to be a challenge.

“To keep the railway sustainable, difficult decisions are having to be made.”

The NYMR is a registered charity and without operating this would have a substantial impact on its future. Please help by donating to give the railway a fighting chance to be able to ‘steam on’ in its current form once the pandemic is over. Donate: nymr.co.uk/crisis-fund