HOPES are rising that trains could soon back on the troubled Weardale Railway following a meeting with private investors last night.

Talks between the ECT Group, which includes the successful Dartmoor Railway, funding partners backing the Weardale Railway Heritage Project, Weardale Railway Trust volunteers and administrators Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) were said to have been very positive.

Now ECT will come back with proposals for investing in and running the line, which shut down at New Year after operating for only six months.

PWC was called in last December and is seeking an operating company to replace Weardale Railways Limited.

It must also strike a deal with 104 creditors who are owed a total of almost £1m.

Stephen Sears, ECT's chief executive, attended the talks at Durham's County Hall and acknowledged that major investment would be needed in the Weardale venture, which would become part of his London-based not-for-profit social enterprise group.

He said: "We have to make an offer to the administrators. We are not looking to obtaining money from elsewhere.

"At the moment, we are just talking about it in outline. We haven't got any sort of agreement.

"We are going to be putting a proposal together on the basis of the meeting.

"It seems that the relevant authorities and other public bodies and administrators are all very keen to resolve this satisfactorily. I hope we can.

"I think the talks went very well and we made some progress but there are an awful lot of agencies and organisations involved."

After yesterday's meeting, directors of the Weardale Railway Trust, led by acting chairman Kevin Hillary, said they were heartened by the positive approach being taken over the future of the line.

A spokesman for the trust, which operates independently of Weardale Railways Limited, said: "There is still much work to be done involving a close look at how the railway will be managed and financed.

"But the positive and unanimous message from all concerned at this meeting was that there is a future for the Weardale Railway.

"With that in mind, we are hopeful of running train services again this summer."

A Durham County Council spokesman said talks had been very positive