THE WEST Somerset Railway (WSR) has received a grant of £865,000 to help it recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

WSR was forced to close the 23 mile former GWR branch line in March due to the coronavirus pandemic and was given the funding from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage.

The company said the funding is 'fundamental to the immediate future of the WSR' as it enables them, along with the support of WSR ‘family’ support organisations, to bring people back to work, prepare for Christmas 2020 and to fully reopen the railway in March 2021.

WSR said the grant will fund a wide of project including infrastructure renewal, Covid 19 precautions and protection, operations and locomotives and rolling stock.

It will provide immediate help with the costs of re-opening the line by covering the wages of essential staff brought back from furlough to prepare for trains returning.

The grant bid was reviewed and delivered jointly by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and Historic England and will also assist with the process of re-training staff and reinstating competencies, policies and procedures.

WSR Plc Chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt said: “Naturally, we are all thrilled to have received this fantastic grant support thanks to the Department of Culture Media and Sport, the National Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic England.

“It will provide us the vital financial lifeline needed for the railway’s survival, and we are confident that all of the projects to gain support will help get the much-loved West Somerset Railway running normally again soon.

“From all sources, we have now raised or received a wonderful total of financial help all told of an amazing £1,177,271.08 so far, and we are still raising money to try and get to our next target of £1.5 million.

“This has been achieved via our own emergency appeal via donations and smaller grants to the WSR plc, WSSRT and WSRA, plus limited site openings income of £283,571.08; an earlier NLHF Heritage Emergency Fund grant of £28,700 to the WSSRT, and now this latest DCMS Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage grant to the WSR plc of £865,000.

“The WSR is so very grateful to everyone who has helped us raise this money in whatever way they could – now we can move forward.”

The application for the funding was prepared in partnership with the West Somerset Railway Association and the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust and contributions from other groups on the railway.

"The Plc said would also like to thank all of the external stakeholders who provided letters and statements in support of the bid, including local MPs, Rebecca Pow and Iain Liddell-Grainger, both main local authorities and councils, plus partners in the local tourism and leisure sector," a spokesperson for WSR said.

"Everybody’s help and support for the bid was much appreciated and this now provides a firm foundation on which the WSR Plc can move forward with its plans."

The grant money has to be spent by March 31, 2021 and WSR said it has been 'working hard' to put together the project infrastructure and processes in anticipation that the bid would be accepted.

"This work is being finalised and this major programme of investment will now start in earnest," the WSR spokesperson added.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, said the grant should help the railway company make an early return to normal services between Minehead and Bishop’s Lydeard.

“Having been involved fairly closely in discussions with the company and its supporters over the last few months I had become only too aware of how perilous its financial position was,” Mr Liddell-Grainger said.

“Things weren’t looking good before lockdown, what with passenger numbers declining, costs for repairs and renewals rising and cash reserves exhausted.

“But this grant recognises the importance of the railway not merely as a West Somerset tourist attraction but as one of the premier attractions in the southwest – and a magnet for tourists from all over the UK.

“There are still going to be challenges ahead but the grant reflects the fact that the Government has every confidence that they will be surmounted and that the railway has a long-term future.”

A grant of £26,100 has also been announced for the Minehead-based enthusiast-run company which owns Dinmore Manor, a 1950 steam locomotive currently based on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway.

£24,800 was granted to Exmoor’s Riverside Project and £20,900 was given to the parochial church council of St Mary’s Bridgwater.

A £154,000 grant is also on its way to the Halsway Manor Society which runs the country house in the Quantock Hills as a national centre for the folk arts.

“Halsway Manor is recognised as an outstanding national centre of excellence. As such it attracts hundreds of folk song and dance enthusiasts to this part of the world, many of them discovering its attractions for the first time and going on to become regular visitors, to the benefit of the wider local economy,” Mr Liddell-Grainger added.

“I am delighted that its importance has also been recognised by the department.”