SUPPORTERS of the Weardale heritage railway have given a warm welcome to the key role mapped out for the line in the regeneration plan for Weardale.

They believe it offers a great opportunity for the railway to become "a golden thread" in the successful development of tourist and business economies in the dale.

And they hope it will help lead to a rescue package being agreed shortly, which would allow the cash-strapped railway to come out of voluntary administration.

Talks will take place this week between public funders, potential private investors and administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

It is hoped they will finally agree a package which would see a new company take over the railway, which went into administration in January with debts of nearly £1m.

Under the proposed deal, London-based ECT group, which owns Dartmoor Railway, would take a 75 per cent share in the new company, alongside public funders Durham County Council, Wear Valley District Council and the Weardale Railway Trust.

Dartmoor Railway's managing director, John Hummel, who will represent the non-profit-making ECT group at this week's talks, said he was delighted with the regeneration plan and the prospects it for tourism in Weardale.

He said: "I very much look forward to working on the development of the railway to Eastgate so it can focus on the regeneration of Upper Weardale."

In the regeneration plan for Eastage, the heritage railway would take visitors right to the heart of the development, close to the proposed hot springs.

Nearby would be a roundhouse containing working locomotives and displays of historic carriages.

The 800-strong Weardale Railway Trust, which has raised thousands of pounds to help save the line, hopes that recognition of the railway's potential to the regeneration of Eastgate will speed up its return.

Kevin Hillary, acting trust chairman, said he hoped the planned station and other buildings at Eastgate would be erected in keeping with the old North Eastern Railway, which first built the extension line from Stanhope to Wearhead.

He said: "The North Eastern Railway built stylish and durable buildings and the original plans for these are still available."

Mr Hillary said the trust also welcomed the suggestion in the regeneration plan that trains leaving Eastgate could carry aggregates which had been quarried on the site.

He said: "This will provide an opportunity for additional income for the railway and also remove traffic from an already busy road. We believe all the developments planned for Eastgate will make a huge contribution to the economy of Weardale."