Boost for Aln Valley Railway as new facility approved for Lionheart Station complex

The Aln Valley Railway (AVR) is ‘delighted’ to have received planning permission from Northumberland County Council for a carriage shed at the Lionheart Station complex, to the east of the A1 in Alnwick.

The railway is an ambitious development to recreate most of the Alnwick to Alnmouth branch-line.

The shed will be 100 feet long and wide enough to contain double-track railway lines with room to work; this means that two coaches, or a coach and two or three wagons can be worked on at the same time.

The building will have inspection pits below rail level with a mobile platform next to one of the lines, allowing work to take place at footplate level. In the future, a mezzanine platform will be built allowing an overall view of work in progress.

The AVR explained that the shed is required so that heritage stock can be rebuilt undercover and will enable work to be undertaken no matter what the weather conditions, unlike now where it has to be carried out in the open air or, when space permits, inside the locomotive shed.

This will greatly speed up the process of restoration and provide added security for stock and spare parts. It also means that work can be carried out throughout the year.

A spokesman said: “This is a huge step forward for the railway and will enable volunteers to work on the carriages and wagons vital for the running of the railway.

“This carriage shed will form a vital part in the success and the continuity of the Aln Valley Railway by ensuring that the rolling stock required for the running of the railway will be available more readily than before.”

The application had sparked no objections and was approved under delegated powers by planning officers, with the report noting that the new building ‘will allow for improved working conditions while maintaining railway coaches and wagons as well as provide storage facilities, free of the elements’.

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