Editing Bure Valley Railway (section)

== Re-opening ==

The trackbed was purchased by Broadland District Council, initially with plans to develop it as a long-distance footpath.  In 1986, however, the idea of using part of the closed line as an operational railway was considered.  Equipment and experience of railway operation came from Robert Hudson and John Edwards, who supplied railway equipment to [[Pleasurewood Hills]], with ''Pleasureworld'', under Chairman Joe Larter, providing tourism experience.  Graham Fowler, of Broadland District Council, was later appointed the first General Manager.  Grants from the English Tourist Board and Department of the Environment helped launch the £2.5 million scheme.<ref name="JOBY 1991">{{cite book |last=Joby |first=R.S. |date=1991 |title=Bure Valley Railway, The Broadland Line |location=Norwich |publisher=Jarrold Publishing |page=6 |isbn=0-7117-0395-7}}</ref>

Forty three objections to the restoration of the line were made to the [[Light Railway Order]], for the following reasons:
* the appearance of the railway in the landscape;
* the possible effect on property values;
* possible congestion in Aylsham, including access to/from the station;
* the width of the footpath adjacent to the railway,
* the security of the fence separating it from the railway;
* possible noise from premises at Aylsham Station associated with sheet metal working. 

Many of these issues were resolved by conducting a comparative study between the proposed Bure Valley Railway and the established [[Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway]], with various mitigations required of the new company.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bure Valley Railway: an environmental impact assessment |date=1988 |first1=J. H. |last1=Farrington |first2=D. M. |last2=Ord (1988) |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=210–218 |doi=10.1080/02688867.1988.9726691 |journal=Project Appraisal |publisher=Beech Tree Publishing|doi-access=free }}</ref> Consent was given for the rebuilding of the line in 1987, despite local objections and with complaints from residents of [[Buxton with Lamas]] initially seeing plans for a restored station in the village dropped.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Tourists' railway is welcomed |work=Eastern Daily Press |location=Norwich |date=1987}}</ref>

Track relaying, using 30-foot section flat-bottom steel rail (BS 30 m) secured by [[Pandrol]] [[Rail fastening system|clips]],<ref name="JOBY 1991"/> was well-underway in September 1989, with {{convert|1+1/2|mi|km}} of the track relaid and claims that the new railway would create about 60 jobs.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Valley line still steaming ahead |work=Eastern Daily Press |location=Norwich |date=1 September 1989}}</ref>  In 1990, the station buildings at Aylsham, one of the most complete remaining Great Eastern station complexes in Norfolk, were demolished to make way for the new Bure Valley Railway headquarters.  Construction of the line created the [[Aylsham Bypass Tunnel]], Norfolk's only operational railway tunnel, which carries the railway under the Aylsham [[Bypass (road)|Bypass]] replacing the original standard gauge [[level crossing]]. [[Cromer Tunnel]] in Cromer, the only other surviving railway tunnel in the county, is disused.

The Bure Valley Railway opened on 10 July 1990 under the management of RKF Leisure which had purchased the trackbed.<ref name="RW-0691">{{cite journal |title=Preservation review: All change at Bure Valley |journal=Railway World |date=June 1991 |editor-last1=Leigh |editor-first1=Chris |volume=52 |issue=614 |page=329 }}</ref> The opening ceremony saw a series of issues, including overloading of the first train, causing it to stall at Coltishall for 30 minutes with defective brakes.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Red faces as new railway hits snags |work=Eastern Daily Press |location=Norwich |date=11 June 1990}}</ref>  

===Receivership and rescue by Broadland District Council===
When the RKF's parent company, RKF Group Plc, went into receivership in January 1991, [[Broadland District Council]] moved quickly to acquire the line from the receivers as it feared that property developers might seize the opportunity to take control of the land.<ref name="RW-0691"/> Agreement was reached with [[Ffestiniog Railway]] director Mike Hart to set up a new company, Bure Valley Railway (1991) Ltd, to lease and operate the line.<ref name="RW-0691"/> A [[long distance footpath]] ([[rail trail]]) opened alongside it in 1991.

In 1993 Mike Hart sold his interest in Bure Valley Railway (1991) Limited to Robert Baker of Sudbury, Suffolk. In 1995 control passed to Westernasset Limited. In 2001 control of Westernasset was acquired by Andrew Barnes. Westernasset was subsequently wound up and shares in Bure Valley Railway (1991) Limited were held directly by Andrew Barnes, who operates the railway on a not for profit basis with the support of many volunteers.

Broadland District Council considered selling the line to the Bure Valley Railway in June 2017, but this was delayed by Brexit, resulting in a partnership approach being made by Norfolk County Council, which it was felt would improve the opportunities for funding and ensure the retention of the permissive footpath alongside the line.  The council's managing director stated that it was important that "members should be sure about what they were seeking to achieve by the disposal of the railway".<ref>Broadland District Council January 15 2019 Cabinet Minutes</ref>  The Council changed its mind before the transaction was completed and the route continues to be owned by Broadland District Council. In 2019 Norfolk County Council received £1.2 million [[Interreg]] funding to invest in refurbishments along the Bure Valley route.  This was additional to the £10,000 annual maintenance budget the council employs on the line.<ref>Broadland District Council August 2 2019 Cabinet Agenda</ref>

In March 2020 the Bure Valley Railway threatened to take the council to the [[Office of Rail and Road]] over a claimed contractual failure to adequately maintain fences and structures along the line for which the council has responsibility.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/local-council/bure-valley-railway-threatened-broadland-council-with-watchdog-maintenance-1512266 |title=Railway threatened to take council to watchdog over upkeep 'dereliction' |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |last=Frank-Keyes |first=Jessica |date=October 10, 2020}}</ref>

===COVID-19 and financial troubles===

In April 2020 the railway stated that they were in difficulties due to the impact of the [[COVID-19]] [[pandemic]] on their operations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.northnorfolknews.co.uk/news/railway-fears-hard-decisions-as-coronavirus-hits-trade-1645158 |title=Heritage railway fears 'hard decisions' as coronavirus hits Easter trade  |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |publisher=[[Archant]] |first=David |last=Bale |date=October 12, 2020}}</ref>

In June 2020 the local media reported, that the BVR were in "dire straits" and at risk of closure due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the refusal of an insurance claim relating to loss of income, despite Broadland DC deferring their annual £30,000 rent payments until September 2020 and receiving a £25,000 Covid-19 support grant.<ref name=EDPredundancy>{{cite news |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/local-council/bure-valley-railway-in-dire-straits-1557158 |title=Redundancy fears and rent waived at top tourist attraction in 'dire straits' |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |publisher=[[Archant]] |first=Jessica |last=Frank-Keyes |date=October 13, 2020}}</ref> Full relief from business rates was granted by national government for 2020/21 fiscal year. The BVR furloughed some of its staff.<ref name=EDPredundancy/>

The railway's case against insurer [[MS Amlin]], who the railway claimed had refused to pay out cover for loss of income due to “any notifiable disease within a radius of 25 miles of the premises” drew national attention.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/news/tourist-railway-treated-badly-by-ms-amlin-over-rejected-coronavirus-related-bi-claim/1433285.article |title=Tourist railway 'treated badly' by MS Amlin over rejected coronavirus-related BI claim |first=Katie |last=Scott |date=30 April 2020 |work=Insurance Times |publisher=[[Newsquest Specialist Media]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/markets/article/insurers-need-a-deal-to-head-off-coronavirus-legal-storm-npgkwk8w7 |title=Insurers need a deal to head off coronavirus legal storm |work=[[The Times]] |first=Emma |last=Dunkley |date=April 19, 2020 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The railway was able to re-open with volunteers on at weekends from 11 July and 5 days per week from 1 August were all staff came off the [[Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/business/railway-aylsham-to-wroxham-reopening-30th-anniversary-1577244 |title=Full steam ahead for railway as it prepares to welcome passengers back this weekend |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |publisher=[[Archant]] |first=Casey |last=Cooper-Fiske |date=October 12, 2020}}</ref>  As of January 2021, the insurance claim remained unpaid despite a [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] ruling that insurers had to make payments owed under business interruption policies.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/business/bure-valley-railway-insurance-payout-6908616 |title=Business with pandemic insurance unpaid despite high court ruling |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |publisher=[[Archant]] |first=Eleanor |last=Pringle |date=January 15, 2021}}</ref>

In January 2021 the railway, once again, declared that they were in financial crisis, having lost £765,000 in a year despite having been able to operate for much of their main season.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/bure-valley-railway-appeal-for-boiler-7069316 |title='Crisis' appeal as heritage railway loses £765k in year |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |publisher=[[Archant]] |first=Stuart |last=Anderson |date=January 25, 2021}}</ref>  The issues were compounded by the discovery of major faults on two of the railway's steam locomotive boilers, the failures of which might mean that the railway would not have the required locomotives to be able to reopen if said boilers were not repaired/replaced.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2021/01/urgent-appeal-launched-to-help-the-bure-valley-railway-avoid-steam-locomotive-crisis.html |title=Urgent Appeal launched to help Norfolk's Bure Valley Railway avoid steam locomotive crisis |work=RailAdvent |first=Michael |last=Holden |date=27 January 2021}}</ref>

The railway opened again in Summer 2021, after the boilers of two locomotives were replaced.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boiler work progresses for Bure Valley Railway steam locomotive Blickling Hall |url=https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2021/02/boiler-work-progresses-for-bure-valley-railway-steam-locomotive-blickling-hall.html |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=RailAdvent |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Steve |date=2021-05-03 |title=Bure Valley Railway: Back Again |url=https://009adventure.blog/2021/05/03/bure-valley-railway-back-again/ |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Steve's Narrow Gauge Adventure |language=en}}</ref>

=== Alternative Fuel ===
In June and December 2021, the railway performed trials contributing to the development of a sustainable coal replacement for [[Steam locomotive|steam locomotives]] on [[Heritage railway|heritage railways]], in collaboration with the Advanced Steam Traction Trust (ASTT), the [[Heritage Railway Association]], and Coal Products Limited.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norfolk's Bure Valley Railway tests new bio-coal for steam locomotives |url=https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2021/06/norfolks-bure-valley-railway-tests-new-bio-coal-for-steam-locomotives.html |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=RailAdvent |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bure Valley Railway tests bio-coal under arduous working conditions |url=https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2021/12/bure-valley-railway-tests-bio-coal-under-arduous-working-conditions.html |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=RailAdvent |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The first trial compared 3 [[Bio-coal|bio-coals]] to traditional welsh coal, and the second pitted the best performing of these [[Bio-coal|bio-coals]] against the welsh coal again, but under harsher conditions. The first trial found that a variant of Ecoal50 could deliver equal engine performance with a 28% increase in coal consumption, and this coal was chosen for use in the second trial.

In May 2022, the railway won the [[Heritage Railway Association|Heritage Railway Association's]] ''Award for Environmental Innovation'' for their work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norfolk's Bure Valley Railway wins award for work sustainable steam locomotive coal |url=https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2022/03/norfolks-bure-valley-railway-wins-award-for-work-sustainable-steam-locomotive-coal.html |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=RailAdvent |language=en-GB}}</ref>