Following the government announcement, the railway will close from 5th November, including its pubs, cafes and shops.

The Severn Valley Railway reopened in August after four months of closure during the lockdown earlier this year. Since then, many thousands of visitors have returned to enjoy a day out, experiencing the excitement and joy of heritage rail travel. During the coming period of public closure, the railway will continue to operate maintenance vehicles in order to carry out essential work.

All customers who have tickets for this period will be offered the chance to rebook during December. The railway has confirmed that tickets booked for its Christmas and festive events from 3rd December onwards are not affected and these will still go ahead. Helen Smith, Severn Valley Railway's general manager, said:

“Customers who have booked tickets during November, which includes the first weekend of our Santa and Steam in Light services, won’t be able to travel on their assigned dates. We are sorry about this, but in line with the government announcement we must close the railway for this period.

“I want to reassure all customers who are affected, that they will hear directly from us in the coming days, and we’ll offer them an alternative booking in December or if we can’t accommodate them, a refund. Please don’t try and call us, because you may face a long queue to speak to someone. We promise we’ll contact you soon, on either the phone number or email address you provided when you booked.

“Even though we must close the railway to the public during the coming weeks, we will still be busy making preparations for our Santa, Steam in Lights and other festive services, which will run from 3rd December onwards. We know how much our visitors are looking forward to these, and we want to make sure you can enjoy a truly magical experience with the Severn Valley Railway.

“The carriages we’ll be using for these services have private compartments, so each group has its own exclusive space to travel in. We’ve received hugely positive feedback from passengers about our Covid-secure arrangements, and many comments about how safe people have felt travelling with us.”