Dartmouth leads the way out of lockdown as steam returns for summer
JULY 23, 2020, may have marked either the beginning of the end of the greatest crisis that the UK heritage railway sector has ever faced… or the end of the beginning.
As the world faced its greatest hidden killer in living memory, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the lockdown restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 would be eased further.
That announcement lit the blue touch paper for many of the lines, who for four months had been deprived of income from ticket sales and retail outlets vital for their survival, and found themselves existing on donations (News, page 12).
Despite their enthusiasm to run again, expert advice has been carefully sought from local councils and bodies like the Office of Rail and Road as to how best to effect the most stringent social distancing measures with the utmost concern for the safety of their passengers.
The Dartmouth Steam Railway & Riverboat Company may well have become a market leader in this field as it went full steam ahead with preparations to restart its trains on Monday, July 6, two days after pubs,
