Record £6.25m turnover for Severn Valley Railway

Record year for Severn Valley Railway
http://www.expressandstar.com/2010/03/12/record-year-for-severn-valley-railway/
expressandstar.com - 12 March
Midlands heritage attraction Severn Valley Railway has steamed ahead through the recession to a record-breaking year, delighted bosses announced today. ...

Record year for SVR
http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/5059046.Record_year_for_SVR/
Kidderminster Shuttle - 12 March
THE Severn Valley Railway's (SVR) revenue steamed ahead and soared to more than £6 million last year, despite the economic downturn. ...

Crowded platforms at the Severn Valley Railway station at Bridgnorth
http://www.shropshirestar.com/2010/03/12/railway-in-record-profits/
Shropshire Star - 12 March
Revenue for the Bridgnorth heritage line soared to £6.25 million in 2009 and the year was the second best-ever for passenger numbers which topped 250000. ...

Patrick

 

The SVR must have become quite an asset to London Midland TOC as well. Even if only 5% went by rail to Kidderminster, that's still over 10000 tickets a year.

 

It's not only London Midland. The Flood two years ago woke everybody up to just how important the Railway is to the region and its businesses. It's brilliant that we have bounced back so well, but so have many other lines, if reports are to be believed. I think we should all lose no opportunity to mention the local line wherever we are travelling and sow the seed that they are the reason why we're doing business, (buying a pint and a pub meal, say) with them. What is true of the Severn Valley, is also true of the GlosWarks, the Llanny, the Keighley, the Moors, the Bluebell, the Ffestiniog and all the others, big or small. We all bring trade to the local economy that otherwise would not be there. Let's not be shy in pointing that out, politely, of course!

 

Given the numbers posted elsewhere by Bean Counter for the NYMR ticket revenue, I thought this revenue figure for the SVR looked rather high.

Apparently it might include accounting for some Lottery money. Otherwise they have particularly good subsidiary trading activities! We need to see the accounts when published.

However on the wider issue mentioned in the post above, yes, our Heritage lines do contribute significantly to their local economies. Local shop keepers and cafe owners were interviewed in Bridgnorth as the SVR opened after the 2007/8 flood closure, and all remarked on the drop in trade they had seen. The other lines mentioned above will be just as important locally for bringing in visitors and their "spend" as they call it in marketing circles.

 

The SVR always posts a much higher revenue than the NYMR so I don't think it is a one off due to grant funding. It does surprise me that the difference is so great, though (NYMR £5m; SVR £6.25m) when the NYMR passenger numbers are 100,000 more. At, say £10/person, that means that the SVR is effectively turning over £2.25m more on a like-for-like basis of 250,000 passengers. I can't see that the boiler shop and other engineering contract work accounts for that much.

 

I heard that it does.

They do, but activities rather than subsidiaries. Revenues from 2 bars, 2 shops, 2 dining trains, a museum, 2/3 dining rooms, engineering contract work and footplate experience come to mind.

Agreed. Bridgnorth in particular exchanges a lot of trade, both local and visitor, with the town. I did hear a figure of £20m loss to the local economy and I believe it this that unlocked much of the HMG and EU grant monies in 2007/8. IIRC, Pete Waterman is quoted in Steam Railway putting a figure of £212m annual economic value on the heritage rail sector

Patrick

 

The NYMR £5 million plus turnover excludes "charity" income - e.g. membership fees, grants and donations. Don't know whether the SVR includes the equivalent but they have a quite different structure to the NYMR, so it may well not be comparing like with like. I do know that the pubs and contract engineering are major SVR activities in terms of generating turnover - and in the pubs cases, this is apparently thanks to being a good traditional type of pub - no football, little food - just somewhere to drink and chat - well done!

The other thing the SVR definately deserves praise for is being so successful in what is not really a tourist area. Of the top 5 railways for passengers carried, 4 basically are holiday areas and run from inland to the coast - the other one is the SVR! The Severn Valley is a beautiful area but the SVR has to ply its trade to a completely different, largely day trip market and I know Joh Leech said a number of years ago their main competitor is the local shopping centre (as you can imagine for the family afternoon out).

Very well done indeed to all concerned!

Steven

 

A bit OT: Top 5 railways

Hello,

please accept my apologies for being ignorant, but which are those four railways? I can think of the NYMR and WSR but which are the other two? Ffestiniog and Paignton & Dartmouth?

Please enlighten me!

Kind regards

Christoph

 

Swanage and Paignton & Dartmouth

 

I thought the P&DR wasn't comparable with the rest because they count a single trip as a passenger journey and a return as two?

 

The SVR has a number of bodies. The principal trading body is SVR (Holdings), incorporated by shares, and it is that that rruns the trains, bars etc. and is I think the body declaring the turnover.

The second main body is the Guarantee Company to which the membership subscriptions go, and which in turn owns around 25% of the shares in the Holdings Co. So I wouldn't be surprised if the turnover figure quoted excludes membership revenue.

I'm a member and shareholder but hold no office for the SVR, and this is my personal recollection

Patrick

 

Hello,

Thanks for that.

Kind regards

Christoph