Santa specials prove popular

Christmas has come early to the Severn Valley Railway with the first 5,000 seats for its Santa Special steam trains already sold.

The rush is already on for a reduced number of tickets available for this year's special services from Kidderminster set to start on December 1.

Railway officials expect the remaining 21,000 seats to be quickly snapped up in the next few weeks.

This year Bewdley will replace Arley as the destination of the Santa trains and the location of Santa's Grotto because of ongoing repair work to the tracks between Bewdley and Bridgnorth following the devastation of the summer floods.

These left the railway counting the cost of damage said to run into more than £2.5 million. Despite the shorter journeys the demand for tickets to see Santa is expected to be as high as ever.

However officials have been forced to reluctantly reduce Santa train capacity this year by around 11,000 seats because Bewdley's arrival platform is not long enough to handle the normal eight-coach trains. Trains have to be limited to five coaches in order to fit the platform.

Marketing manager John Leach said: "It's going to put a lot of pressure on the available seating. December is always far and away our busiest time of year, and seeing Santa on the Severn Valley has a become a strong local tradition.

"We would much rather be increasing capacity rather than reducing it, but operationally, this year, we don't have a choice. We are running 13 Santa trains-a-day, and more than 100 trains in total – but the message to everyone has to be simply book now before all the seats have gone."

The vintage railway carriages which form Santa's Grotto will also be based at Bewdley station goods yard where staff are building a special temporary platform to allow visitors ease of access.

Santa trains from Kidderminster to Bewdley operate on four consecutive weekends, from Dec- ember 1 and 2, through to 22 and 23 with a flat fare of £8.50 for adults and children aged from one to 15 and all youngsters receive a present from Santa.

Bookings can be made by calling 01299-403816 and the Santa Herald Service, which runs on December 19, 20 and 21, with Santa on board a diesel unit train is expected to take some pressure from the Santa specials.