A RAILWAY company hoping to expand Esk Valley services between Cleveland and Whitby is receiving £120,000 to help it work out detailed business costs and an operating plan.

The Esk Valley Railway Development Company is working on the scheme with rail regulators and train firms, with the support of local and regional authorities.

It is using the £120,000 over two years to employ an officer with specific financial and planning responsibilities.

Yorkshire Forward, the Countryside Agency and local councils are funding the project, which the company says will transform the Esk Valley line into a showpiece for rural railway regeneration.

It believes it can work fruitfully with train firms like Arriva, which has just been shortlisted for the new Northern Franchise for rural lines, beginning next year.

In the short term, the Esk Valley development company wants to reinstate a daily early-morning service into Middlesbrough, calling at stations along the entire line, enhance other services, and employ local cleaning and maintenance staff for a faster, cheaper, service.

Ultimately, it hopes to manage the line and award contracts to train firms, or lease or buy its own trains.

Secretary Neil Buxton said 200 pupils now took the morning train from Middlesbrough to Whitby for 9am. But people were unable to commute to Middlesbrough for that time. The Whitby school train returns to Middlesbrough by mid-morning.

A handful of early morning trains run from Nunthorpe to Middlesbrough, but there are none from nearby Great Ayton, just down the line.

This situation has arisen because trains are no longer stationed at Whitby overnight, due to vandalism in the past. Restoration of an early morning Middlesbrough-bound service was a priority, said Mr Buxton.

Cleveland local authorities are involved in the scheme, through a Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit, and North Yorkshire County Council has some connections.

Great Ayton station was not well-placed and the whole line was greatly underdeveloped, Mr Buxton said. He was unsure how much consideration North Yorkshire County Council had given to opening a new Great Ayton station, closer to the village with modern facilities and a good sized car park.

Other issues to be addressed include relaxation of nationally-imposed regulations on train speeds, safety and infrastructure specifications.

High-speed InterCity standards are imposed on all railways, both mainlines and branch lines, said Mr Buxton. But the development company argues such stringent standards are inappropriate for the Esk Valley line, which carries much slower trains.

Footbridges, platforms and other structures have to be maintained to similarly high, national standards.

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