The Severn Valley Railway is about to launch its own Heritage Skills Training Academy.  The railway wishes to train young people in basic engineering and in the traditional methods of repair, overhaul and maintenance of our historic fleet of locomotives and carriages.

The railway will recruit five trainees this summer who will undertake an engineering course at a local college leading to a recognised qualification. 

The Course will be full time for three days per week over the next two years.  

The trainees will then spend two days a week at the Railway working with the paid staff and volunteers to gain practical experience of the railway operation.

At a glittering presentation ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, the Severn Valley Railway was voted 'runner-up' to Buckingham Palace at an award ceremony on June 14th.

The award received was in the category:

'Best Attraction for Group Visits: Long visits of more than 2 hours'.

These awards are voted for by Group Travel Organisers from all over the UK and are presented annually.

Lisa Smith, our Group Travel Organiser, attended the ceremony on behalf of the SVR and returned with the stunning award pictured opposite.

We would like to thank the Group Travel Organisers for voting for us and look forward to welcoming them back to the SVR in the not-too-distant future.

A journey on the Severn Valley Railway gives lots of opportunities for a great day out. As well as the great scenery along the line you may also like to consider:

• A visit to the Georgian town of Bewdley.
• Touring The Engine House, our Visitor Centre at Highley.
• A break of journey at one of our tranquil country stations.
• A visit to Bridgnorth with its winding streets and exciting cliff railway.
  

 

 
If these downloads fail to open you may need to update your Adobe Reader software which is freely available at the link below.

Our elegant observation saloon will be attached to certain trains providing a 'Cream Tea Service', for a single journey, between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth or reverse.

Why not book a place on 'The Flying Scotswoman', for a short Footplate Experience from Bewdley to Kidderminster or reverse.

Although particularly intended for the lady in your life, men and couples are also welcome to book places on this special occasion.

• Ladies, why not try your hand at driving and firing one of our full size steam locomotives between Bewdley and Kidderminster or reverse.

• Up to four guests may travel with you in the carriage attached to the locomotive for the return journey between Bewdley and Kidderminster.

• Experience the thrill of steaming through Bewdley tunnel and whistling past the Safari Park.

• Mr. Darcy will also be on hand to give you tips and advice.

• Attractive certificate for all lady drivers.

• Don't forget to bring your camera.

• Limited availability, so book now!

Two places have become available on our Class 20 Diesel Footplate Experience on July 14th.

• Experience the thrill of handling the controls of diesel electric Class 20 D8059 through the heart of the Severn Valley.

• You will have the chance to drive the locomotive under supervision for 16 miles from Kidderminster to Bridgnorth or return on one of Britain's premier heritage railways. 

• Don't forget to bring your camera.

Our popular Footplate Experience courses give you the chance to blow the whistle, shovel the coal and take the controls of a steam locomotive, and operate on selected dates throughout the year.

We are pleased to announce some additional dates that have been added to the Footplate Experience programme as follows:

Steam Supreme Footplate Experience - £795.00

• Thursday 15th August.

• Saturday 27th July.
• Saturday 19th October.
• Friday 25th October.

• Saturday 17th August.
• Saturday 12th October.

Introductory Footplate Experience Christmas Specials - £250.00

• Friday 27th December.
• Friday 3rd January.

Travel in our scenic diesel unit from Kidderminster station, calling at Bewdley and Arley on the way to the Engine House, our Visitor Centre at Highley.

On arrival you are welcome to tour the railway exhibits and displays before enjoying supper from our curry buffet which includes a free beer or alternative soft drink.

The Spice Train departs Kidderminster at 7pm and arrives back at Kidderminster at 10.15pm.

Join us for an evening of mystery and suspense and enjoy a delicious three course meal whilst the plot unfolds before your eyes!

Dine in fine style as you travel through the magnificent Severn Valley on board an authentic steam-hauled train. Experience the camaraderie and shock of fellow passengers as murder takes place before your very eyes!

You are invited to assist as we bring the guilty to justice!

Seats on Murder Mystery trains can now be booked online. Should the train of your choice not be listed please call Restaurant Car Services to check.







All Murder Mystery trains depart at 7.30pm from Kidderminster station.

Updated: March 26th.

A missing word, a typing error or even a spelling mistake. All these things can happen in any written document. Here at the Severn Valley Railway we want our website to be as accurate, up-to-date and useful as possible, but we accept that errors may occur.

If you spot an error here or you would like to suggest a change or an improvement, you now have the facility to do so. Just click on the button below.

Our webmaster will arrange for changes to be made and suggestions for improvements will be considered. Please remember, however, that there may be good reasons for not making certain changes or for a delay in implementing them.

So if we have said 'meat' instead of 'meet' or 'hear' instead of 'here' or perhaps even spelt Bridgnorth with an 'e', we would love to hear from you!

Your web browser

Your web browser is the piece of software that opens each time you join the internet. You will have heard of 'Internet Explorer', and it is quite likely that it is this browser that is installed on your computer. This is not the only one but it is the most popular.

No matter which web browser you decide to use, it is important that it is kept up-to-date. You will not be able to view the SVR and other modern websites properly if you are using an old version of your browser software. Old and outdated browser versions also have security issues.

Are you having problems seeing everything on the website?

If you are, and some images look like a grey rectangle with an X in the corner, it may be that you are using an out-of-date browser.

If you use Windows 8, the latest version of the four most popular browsers, Internet Explorer 10, Firefox 21, Google Chrome 27 and Safari 5, all show images correctly.

If you use Windows XP, the latest version of Internet Explorer available is version 8, which does have problems displaying some images; however you CAN use the latest version of Firefox, Chrome and Safari, and it would be a good idea to use one of these instead.

Where do I go to obtain updates for my browser?

Click on one of the following links and follow the on-screen instructions. This software is free.

Internet Explorer 9

Mozilla Firefox 21

Google Chrome 27

Safari 5

We strongly recommend that you always have up-to-date security software installed on your computer before downloading any files from the internet.

We expect that the following locomotives will be in use on the dates indicated.

Please note that for operational reasons, this plan is subject to change at short notice and may also include the substitution of a diesel locomotive if no steam locomotive is available.

This information is usually updated on Thursday or Friday of each week.

The Severn Valley Railway is home to an important collection of steam and heritage diesel locomotives.

Not all locomotives are in service at any one time, but the following comprehensive list provides an indication of the current status of each locomotive usually resident on the line.

The SVR does not guarantee that a particular locomotive will be available to view on the day of your visit, however, operational locomotives and their expected usage are listed in a separate news item which is updated every Friday.

During the summer months we operate timetable C on Saturdays, certain Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays.

A diesel locomotive, in addition to our normal steam service, operates as follows:

There is also a diesel loco in operation when we operate table A as follows:

Proposed locomotives are listed below. This list is regularly updated but is subject to change, for operational reasons, at short notice.

Diesel locomotives are also used to operate our Diesel Footplate Experience courses which take place on certain Sundays. These trains are not available for public use. The locomotive used on these services will usually be the same one operating on the preceding Saturday.

Our Diesel Enthusiasts Gala

takes place on

October 3rd, 4th & 5th.

Diesel-only operation

on all three days.

The Severn Valley Railway is grateful for the use of photographs and other pictorial material freely supplied by the following enthusiasts and photographers.

These pictures may appear here on our website or in various SVR publications.

We are also grateful to the many photographers who provide material from time to time and for which we have no record of ownership.

If you regularly take photographs of our trains and stations and would like your work considered for publication please contact our Visitor Services Department.

If you have supplied pictorial material that is not acknowledged here, please let us know.

PHOTO BY LEWIS MADDOX