North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Unfortunately this is partly beyond the Railway's control due to the government's gift aid requirements. I have exactly the same dilemma in the museum I work at--Gift Aid makes selling a ticket much more complicated but we actually get quite a lot of extra income that way, so we can't afford not to.

Personally, I wish the UK government would just give museums and heritage sites the funding they deserve without making us go through this Gift Aid rigmarole. After all, they clearly have enough money in the bank to pay the Gift aid, so the "we can't afford to fund heritage" argument falls down, doesn't it?! I can only suggest writing to your local MP...

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2253 on roster today.

 

Of course that may not be an issue after the end of the month if Gift Aid is in the sight one one R Reeves.

 

God help us. The other point about Gift Aid is that it supports donations, rather than being top down government grant giving. For true charitable giving, that’s a really important part of the equation - when I say “give us a tenner and Rachel Reeves will add 25%”, it encourages people a lot


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The question is whether the sums would add up for museums, since gift aid is an incentive to donate.

If I give you £10 and the Government chip in £2.50 of gift aid, you have £12.50. But if instead the Government were to give you the £2.50 as a grant, you’ve still got to persuade me to give you £10 - and with a lower incentive to do so. You could easily end up worse off, and it’s very hard to think how you might instead end up better off.

So the GA scheme acts to incentivise donations, multiplying its beneficial effect: it isn’t simply a way by which the Government can distribute tax income across the charity sector.

Tom

 

It isn't quite that simple either, though, is it? Because the £10 you have just "donated" is in lieu of paying a regular fare - which the railway would have received anyway. So actually, the £2.50 GA could be replaced by a grant.

 

I was responding to the earlier point about a general replacement of gift aid with government grants to museums, not the specifics of the NYMR scheme.

Tom

 

It could, but it might not. If 20% of my income were Gift Aid, I’d be very nervous about converting that to grant income. It would be more expensive to bid for, and more vulnerable to abrupt changes of policy. Gift Aid on admission is in a sweet spot that justifies a level of complexity - so long as the actual yield per seat (fare income inc Gift Aid divided by number of passengers carried) is above what it would be without.


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I wasn't specifically referring to the NYMR either, I wrote "fares" but it could just as well be replaced by "admission fee" or whatever is charged by attractions run by eligible charitable bodies.

 

That’s fair. However, there is an inconsistency between this view and the criticism of many of the reliance on grant income of the NYMR.

I have many issues with the current management of NYMR, but this is one of their good ideas. Now if they would deliver the quality of museum to back it up…


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Good news from the NYMR. <BJ>

''The damaged road access bridge between Grosmont station and Egton village has now re-opened to all traffic''. <BJ>

 

This week has seen 65894 reliving its time as a York (50A) based loco hauling local pick up goods. During the course of the photo charters it was turned at Pickering, thus renewing acquaintance with one of its former home shed's turntables possibly for the first time since 1966. I don't recall the J27 being turned at Pickering before but I'm happy to be corrected about this.

Peter

 

Seems to of faced north for a period in 2021 at least... https://www.flickr.com/photos/billygoat75/51342879620/in/photolist-2mdZFmq-KDtUZp-27WVZe2-2oW6zLq

 

Thanks, Lee. I suspected that it might have faced north at some time but could not recall when. I also suspected that it might have visited the turntable on one of the many occasions the it has been away to other railways.

Peter

 

Operating Sat-Wed next year apparently with 7 day operation only during school holidays.

Moorlander booking shows Tue/Wed/Sat/Sun for 2025.

February half term;

https://www.nymr.co.uk/Event/february-half-term-with-ner-autocar

Whitby-Goathland only operation.

 

Interesting. Oh well, we'll have to see how that works out.

 

Deleted

 

No surprise really. If Mondays and Tuesday, out of the main season are borderline for passenger numbers and operating costs. Figures dont lie. The SVR now only operate Tues- Thurs and weekends. It allows more flexibility with footplate/ diners and p way work. Plus it reduces operating costs on days when passenger numbers are not high enough.

 

I remain to be convinced it’s the right decision. Thursday are generally a busy day and these have been dropped in favour of Mondays which is one of the quieter days. It would be interesting to see the figures used to justify the decision but I’m pretty certain they won’t emerge.
There is some good news if rumours are true and this is that the DMU is to be overhauled.

 

I suppose the advantage might not be in passenger numbers but having one "gap" a week rather than 2, and maybe the advantages of that outweigh the slightly lower passenger numbers.

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