Severn Valley Railway cancels steam services until further notice due to fire risk

Steam services on the hugely popular Severn Valley Railway (SVR) have been suspended because of fire risk.

The heritage attraction, which runs between Bridgnorth and Kidderminster, issued the announcement on Monday afternoon (August 3) in the wake of an unprecedented spell of hot and dry weather.

The suspension will remain in place until further notice.

In place of the steam locomotives, heritage diesel trains will haul all passenger services, allowing the railway to continue operating while significantly reducing the risk of lineside fires.

On Sunday the railway alerted Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service to a lineside fire on an embankment north of Bewdley.

At the request of the fire service, train services were suspended while crews dealt safely with the incident, remaining on site for around two and a half hours.

The suspension of services resulted in delays for passengers and inconvenience for residents living close to the scene.

Victoria Evans, SVR head of commercial and customer service, said: "We'd like to offer our sincere apologies to everyone whose day was affected on Sunday, whether you were travelling with us or live close to the incident. We know the disruption was frustrating, and we're very sorry for the inconvenience caused.

"We're also extremely grateful to Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service for their swift response and professionalism. Their crews worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control, and we thank them for their support and assistance throughout the incident.

"The safety of our passengers, staff, volunteers, neighbours and the wider community will always come first. We fully supported the fire and rescue service's request to suspend train services while they dealt with the incident."

She continued: "The decision to suspend steam services has been taken because of the prolonged spell of exceptionally hot and dry weather and the continued lack of significant rainfall in the forecast. Sunday's incident serves as a reminder of the challenges these conditions present, but our decision is based on the wider weather situation rather than on a single event.

"This is naturally very frustrating for us and for everyone who loves seeing steam locomotives in action, but we believe it is the right and responsible course of action.

"We hope our visitors will understand why we've taken this step. We're extremely fortunate to have a superb fleet of heritage diesel locomotives that enables us to continue operating services. Without them, we could have found ourselves in the position of having to suspend passenger services altogether.

"We'll continue to keep the situation under constant review and look forward to welcoming our steam locomotives back once weather conditions allow."