THE Wensleydale Railway is entering a critical phase in its recent history – at least since the reintroduction of some passenger services following its rescue from imminent closure.

Can it make the leap from heritage railway to a railway that provides useful public transport options? Its future as a heritage railway has its limitations and while the volunteers who largely run it do an excellent job, the company responsible for its operations has struggled to cover the substantial costs of meeting the stringent safety standards required to run the passenger services between Leeming Bar and Redmire.

We should remember that original dream was to reinstate the line all the way from Northallerton to the Settle Carlisle line. While that still remains an objective in theory, the immediate practical priority is to get the line into Northallerton again. If it can do that, and also do the work necessary to increase the running speeds of trains, the possibility of providing a commuter and shoppers’ link from Wensleydale into the county town becomes a reality and the railway’s revenue generation prospects are transformed.

Then, all manner of other things become something more than a pipedream, and that includes the extension of the line westwards to Castle Bolton and then to Aysgarth.