Weardale Railway
| Weardale Railway | |
|---|---|
Stanhope Station, 2004 | |
| Locale | County Durham |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Weardale Railway |
| Original gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Preserved operations | |
| Owned by | Auckland Project |
| Length | 18 mi (29 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 19 April 1842 |
| 30 January 1843 | Passenger service started |
| 8 November 1843 | Freight service started |
| Closed to passengers | 1953 |
| Closed | 1992 |
| Preservation history | |
| Late 2009 | Reconnected to the National Network |
| 23 May 2010 | Weardale Railway resumes passenger service |
| Easter 2016 | Witton-le-Wear reopens |
| Headquarters | Stanhope |
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The Weardale Railway is an independently owned British single-track branch line heritage railway between Bishop Auckland and Stanhope. The railway began services in July 2004. The line was purchased by the Auckland Project in 2020 with a view to restarting regular passenger services. In 2021, a bid was submitted to the Restoring Your Railway fund. In October 2021, the Department for Transport allocated funding for the development of a business case. By 2024 progress appeared to have stalled, with the scrapping of the Restoring Your Railway fund.
The railway originally ran from Bishop Auckland to Wearhead in County Durham, North-East England, a distance of 25 miles (40 km), built in the 19th century to carry limestone from Eastgate-in-Weardale, and provide passenger services to Weardale. Passenger services ceased in 1953, leaving only freight services to Eastgate until 1992.
After the quarry's owner Lafarge moved to road transport in 1993, the line was threatened with closure by British Rail (BR), and it was taken over by a group of enthusiasts. The Weardale Railway currently runs for 18 miles (29 km) between Bishop Auckland and the site of Eastgate-in-Weardale Station, making the line one of the longest preserved standard gauge heritage railways in Great Britain.