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CAST.IRON members recently travelled to North Yorkshire to travel on Britain's first community railway.

On the 4th July 2003 Wensleydale Railway plc launched the first scheduled passenger services to be seen on this line for nearly 50 years. The first train left Leeming Bar Station on the morning of 4th July 2003. There was much celebration as the first trains rolled out of Leeming Bar and Leyburn Stations. This hailed the start of great things for the local community and leisure and tourism along the line.

On Sunday 1st August 2004, they opened up two new stations, bringing the total line journey to 17 miles. One of these stations was at the historic market town of Bedale and the other was at Redmire, currently the end of the line, at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The opening of these two new stations is a result of much hard work from staff, volunteers and contractors and offers a fabulous family day out in Wensleydale.

CAST.IRON members visited the line and saw at first hand the benefits to the local community of this high quality public transport resource. The CAST.IRON executives met with the managers of the Wensleydale Railway plc. The Wensleydale reopening shows the effectiveness of reopening a line in stages to create revenue to fund further development.

During the day, the CAST.IRON executives and the managers of the Wensleydale Railway plc were given a demonstration of the Blade Runner Dualmode system. This highly innovative approach to local transport could provide a practical transport solution in regions such as Wensleydale and on the Cambridge - St. Ives Line.

The CAST.IRON group travelled on a charter train operated by NENTA train tours using modern rolling stock and locomotives. The coaches were comfortable fully air-conditioned stock similar to that currently in use on the Great Western and Anglian main lines.

The Wensleydale Railway is a community run railway developed to give public transport access for local population and take tourists to the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is a fully fledged train operating company. The Wensleydale Railway now aims to:

• Increase the frequency of our existing train services
• Extend operations to Northallerton in the east and Aysgarth in the west
• Complete the reinstatement of the entire route from Northallerton to Garsdale
• Provide a lifeline for residents without cars
• Offer a real choice of travel modes in the dale
• Reduce congestion and pollution in this beautiful part of Yorkshire
• Provide a fully integrated bus and rail service
• Offer an opportunity to remove freight from the roads