TWO major events only a few miles apart are giving a North-East district a massive boost this weekend.

After an 11-year campaign, the £5m Weardale Railway is up and running this morning with a new steam service linking Stanhope and Wolsingham, County Durham.

Tomorrow 4,000 walkers will set off from the Bishop of Durham's home, Auckland Castle, on the eight-mile Great North Walk around Bishop Auckland and the surrounding area.

The railway is expected to attract 90,000 visitors a year to the Wear Valley and inject £3m into the local economy each year.

Weardale Railways Limited and the Weardale Railway Trust have reopened Stanhope, Frosterley and Wolsingham stations, cleared five miles of track and established a depot housing a growing collection of rolling stock.

On Thursday, Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate completed stringent checks and approved the issue of the company's operating licence by the rail regulator.

This meant that contracts for the sale of the line could be exchanged with Network Rail late yesterday afternoon.

Trust chairman Steve Raine said getting the clearance was a relief. He said: "The inspectors were very reasonable and gave us the maximum time they could.

"We just managed to have everything finished in time."

Government chief whip and North-West Durham MP Hilary Armstrong is due to perform the opening ceremony at Stanhope Station at 10.45am.

Tomorrow, she will join the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Tom Wright, and former Health Secretary Alan Milburn at the start of the walk.

The Northern Echo is one of the sponsors of the event through its Chance to Live campaign, which aims to combat heart disease by persuading people to eat healthily and take more exercise.

Another sponsor and campaign partner, Northumbrian Water, is sending a team of walkers raising money for the company's adopted charity Water Aid.

The Durham Dales Primary Care Trust will have an exhibition marquee promoting its healthy living message.

Max Coleby, of Wear Valley District Council, said: "It promises to be a spectacular sight with walkers crossing Newton Cap viaduct on the way out and coming underneath a few miles later."