Delight as heritage rail group dedicated to reopening part of the March to Wisbech line wins charity status
A group of rail enthusiasts dedicated to opening a heritage line in Fenland has taken an important step forward this week with the news they have been granted charity status.
The Bramley Line Heritage Railway Trust has high hopes of opening a heritage line along part of the disused Wisbech to March track despite ongoing plans by local authorities to get the connection between the towns reopened.
In December the group issued a statement reasserting its long-held ambition of opening the stretch of line between Waldersea (near Friday Bridge) and Coldham as a heritage railway line and the Trust has been working alongside the Wisbech to Bramley Line Limited group to achieve the dream.
Terry Hartga, secretary of the Bramley Line Heritage Railway Trust, announced on Tuesday that the group has become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with a registered charity number: 1211887.
He said: “This is a great start to the New Year and an important step forward for our members, potentially opening up new funding streams and volunteering opportunities.
“Our short-term aim is to reopen the line from Waldersea to Coldham as a heritage railway.
“This year is Rail 200, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of our railways and 2027 is the 180th anniversary of the opening of the line from March to Wisbech.”
The Trust currently has a licence from Network Rail enabling volunteers to access the line from just north of Whitemoor Junction, March to Wisbech for the purposes of scrub clearance (including the use of strimmers), site survey and engineering assessment of the track bed, embankments and structures and to have a portacabin office, rolling stock and a picnic area at Waldersea, all of which must be clear of the existing running line.
In December Mr Hartga said: “The long-term aim, depending on the plans of the Combined Authority, Network Rail and Fenland District Council, is still to reopen the whole line, as a heritage railway from the A47 road at Wisbech to March Station, utilising the existing platform space of the old Spalding Line, currently being restored and maintained by the Friends of March Railway Station.”
