Spa Valley Railway - Latest News

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I didn't realise it was so serious down there. As always, a good update from @Jonnie about the situation.

 

It's my train (set) and I will run whatever coaches I want (or can get hold of).

 

A Spa Valley Railway Update

Broom Lane Bridge
Back in October, we held a volunteer meeting to explain the critical need to replace the current Broom Lane Bridge to ensure we can continue operating our Railway safely in the future. There is currently a small but dedicated team of four working on the Project.

The previous focus has been on getting a document called the AiP (Approval in Principle) signed off by ESCC Highways. The process started some time ago and has now been agreed and signed off on. The AiP has taken an enormous amount of time to complete, but we are now over the line. Signing off on the AiP is a vital step towards replacing Broom Lane Bridge.

The next part of the project is the construction of the bridge, and we are delighted to announce that, thanks to generous donations, we have purchased the steel for the bridge and, as a Christmas present, construction has started! The next item is the cill beams, which will sit atop the existing brick abutments, and the new bridge will sit on.

There’s still an awful lot of work to do; there is a lot of behind-the-scenes work underway on licensing and access to the land to install the bridge, and we need all the activities to slot into place correctly.

Providing all goes to plan, the railway will operate each weekend from Saturday 17th January to Sunday 22nd February, including Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th February during the half-term. The last trains to pass over the current Broom Lane Bridge will be on Sunday, 22nd February.

We must then remove the track after service on Sunday, 22nd February and early the following week, as the replacement of the bridge will take place between Monday, 23rd February and Thursday, 2nd April. The P-Way Team has already been hard at work in High Rocks woods, building six panels of track (so far) to go in on the Tunbridge Wells side of the new structure.

Subject to no alterations, the railway will reopen across the bridge on Friday, 3rd April. We hope this to be an ‘Anything Goes’ type event.

It is very important to emphasise that the railway is not closing whilst Broom Lane Bridge is replaced!

We have five weekends that we must open the Tunbridge Wells West to Broom Lane part of the railway and operate to ensure we maintain an income; this includes Footplate Experiences that will use Bulleid Pacific 34053 ‘Sir Keith Park’ operating light engine, a Spring Model Railway Weekend (14th & 15th March), a Spring Real Ale & Cider Festival (20th to 22nd March) and Mother’s Day (22nd March) experiences, too.

· https://spavalleyrailway.co.uk/events/steam-footplate-experience/

· https://spavalleyrailway.co.uk/events/spring-model-railway-show/

· https://spavalleyrailway.co.uk/events/spring-ales-festival/

A further ‘Stride the Line’ event walk will take place on Sunday, 29th March, by which time the new bridge should be in the ground and you will be able to see the investment for yourselves. https://spavalleyrailway.co.uk/events/sponsored-walk/

Once Broom Lane Bridge has been replaced, that is not the final chapter. None of this is going to be cheap, and we don't have the funds to pay for it in one lump sum. It is thanks to those who have donated that our appeal has now reached over £98,000. Some of the fundraising income has paid for the design phase, and through this fundraising, we can pay the first invoice (of many) for the bridge's steel and construction at the end of December. The aim is for our fundraising appeal to reach £125,000 by the end of January 2026.

The Wealden Railway Company will then be fronting £150,000, and the Society has further increased this with £100,000, giving a total of £350,000 for the replacement of the bridge. We are not there yet, though, as it is still realistically over £150,000 short, as the costs have risen dramatically since we launched the appeal around one year ago.

So, even after the replacement of Broom Lane Bridge, the appeal MUST remain open, the trains MUST continue to operate, and we MUST continue to make money; if we don’t, the reality is we will cease to exist, albeit with a lovely new bridge across a road. That does mean that 2026 will be different, as will the years ahead, because if we want to continue to see trains travelling between High Rocks and Groombridge, we cannot afford to do anything other than make money.

Why are we saying this?

We are fortunate to be able to pay for the bridge over a set period. Therefore, there will be a fixed monthly outgoing that the Wealden Railway Company must meet, and to do so, we must have income from our events and experiences, including sales through our catering outlets, the shop, and on board the trains. Items such as guidebooks, a cup of tea, a bottle of wine, and, of course, ticket sales all add up.

Could we have found lottery funding? The unfortunate answer is no. We reached out to the HLF with an expression of interest, and we received the following reply: “Thank you for your Expression of Interest (EOI) for the replacement of Broom Lane Bridge on the Spa Valley Railway.The proposal has been considered by our panel for London and the South, alongside a number of other EOIs we have received.

We will not be inviting you to make an application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund at this time. After careful consideration, the panel determined that the application’s proposal to construct a new bridge did not address the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Investment Principles. We appreciate that this will be disappointing news and ask for your understanding that the competition for funding is very high and is expected to remain so.

Please note that we will not accept another EOI for this proposal, or a similar project, within three months of the date of this letter.”

We close this update with some positive news and pictures showing the new Broom Lane Bridge under construction in the factory and the design of the new bridge.

If you can help us reach £125,000 by the end of January 2026, please consider donating to the Broom Lane Bridge Appeal and helping your railway keep operating for many years to come.

On behalf of all the Managers, Directors, and Trustees, thank you to the project team who are working exceptionally hard on the replacement of Broom Lane Bridge and to everyone for all you have done throughout 2025 to ensure our railway could continue operating and for all you will do to enable the trains to keep on running for years to come. The replacement of Broom Lane Bridge is the most significant and challenging project we have ever faced, but together we are confident we can see it through to completion.

Best wishes, and we hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Jonnie Pay
General Manager