Former MP urges people to be 'generous' to save Severn Valley Railway

Christopher Gill served as Conservative MP for Ludlow from 1987 to 2001.

The former MP has now written to urge people to give generously following an appeal by the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) to save the heritage line.

Earlier this month, SVR launched a £1.5 million Survival Fund appeal to allow it to overcome its recent financial difficulties.

Bosses say the railway has been profoundly affected by changes in the financial climate over the past three years, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, post-Brexit supply chain issues and the cost of living crisis.

The railway has already taken a raft of cost-cutting measures, including recruitment freezes for non-essential roles as well as voluntary and compulsory redundancies.

For the first months of this season, it was also running services on fewer days per week than last year, in order to cut back on operating costs.

Now writing in this week's Bridgnorth Journal, former MP Christopher Gill has urged potential donors to dig deep to save the railway.

He said: "I write in support of the recently launched Severn Valley Railway fund-raising appeal and would urge potential donors to be as generous as possible so as to ensure the future of Britain's premier heritage railway which is so vitally important to our local economy."

Mr Gill, who lives in Bridgnorth, left the Conservative Party in 2006 to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

See more about the Survival Fund at svr.co.uk/survival