North Yorkshire Moors Railway
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
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North Yorkshire Moors Railway

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North Yorkshire Moors Railway

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, that runs through the North York Moors National Park. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The line between Grosmont and Rillington was closed in 1965 and the section between Grosmont and Pickering was reopened in 1973 by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust Ltd. The preserved line is now a tourist attraction and has been awarded several industry accolades.

In 2007, the railway started to run regular services over the 6-mile (9.7 km) section of the Esk Valley Line north of Grosmont to Whitby. In 2014, a second platform was opened at Whitby which allowed the NYMR to run an enhanced service and led to passenger numbers in the same year of nearly 350,000 people.

As of 2020, the railway runs for 24 miles (39 km). It is owned and operated by a charitable trust, with 100 staff who work full time, 50 seasonal staff, and over 550 volunteers. The complement includes 30 engineers. As of 2020, the "NYMR is the UK’s most popular heritage railway" according to a news report.

The NYMR carries more passengers than any other heritage railway in the UK and may be the busiest steam heritage line in the world, carrying 355,000 passengers in 2010. The 18-mile (29 km) railway is the third-longest standard gauge heritage line in the United Kingdom, after the West Somerset Railway (22.75 miles (36.61 km)) and the Wensleydale Railway (22 miles (35 km)), and runs across the North York Moors from Pickering via Levisham, Newton Dale, Goathland and terminating at Grosmont.

Some heritage rail operations continue along the Network Rail tracks to Whitby. The railway is formed from the middle section of the former Whitby, Pickering and Malton Line, which was closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts.

The NYMR is owned by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust Ltd, a charitable trust and accredited museum, and is operated by its wholly owned subsidiary North Yorkshire Moors Railway Enterprises plc. It is mostly operated and staffed by volunteers.

During most years, the trains run daily from the beginning of April to the end of October, and on weekends and selected holidays during the winter, with no service from 24 to 27 December. Services are mostly steam-hauled; however, heritage diesel power is sometimes used. At the height of the running timetable, trains depart hourly from each station. As well as the normal passenger running, there are dining services on some evenings and weekends. The extension of steam operated services to the seaside town of Whitby has proved popular.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway was first opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway. The railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The initial railway was designed and built to be used by horse-drawn carriages. Construction was carried out by navvies and coordinated by top engineers. Their three main achievements were cutting a 120 yards (110 m) tunnel through rock at Grosmont, constructing a rope-worked incline system at Beck Hole and traversing the marshy and deep Fen Bog using a bed of timber and sheep fleeces. The tunnel is believed to be one of the oldest railway tunnels in England.

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