Far North Line Community Rail Partnership taking shape with aim of reinvigorating line north of Tain and encouraging travellers to stop off at local communities
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An ambitious scheme to form a body which will work to reinvigorate the Far North rail line for the benefit of communities in Caithness and Sutherland, is taking shape.
A Far North Line Community Rail Partnership is in the throes of being established with six board members already appointed, it has emerged.
The new community rail partnership (CRP) will cover the rail line north of Tain and it is hoped the formalities involved in setting it up will be completed in time to launch it at a planned rail anniversary celebration at Helmsdale in June.
Staffordshire-based rail buff Michael Willmot, who is well known in East Sutherland for the restoration of Helmsdale Railway Station building, is to serve as secretary to the new board and chairman is David Watson, manager of the Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust.
Community rail partnerships have operated in England, where there are more than 40, since the 1990s and were introduced to Scotland in 2012.
There are now nine groups north of the border including one on the Perth to Inverness line. They provide a framework for greater community involvement in the strategic planning, development and operation of a line.
Built between 1862-74, the 161-mile Far North Line runs from Inverness to Wick and Thurso. It is considered one of Britain’s great railway journeys, but is viewed as underutilised.
Mr Watson said recent television coverage of the line – including by David Portillo in his Great Coastal Railway Journeys – showed what a “world class asset” it was.
“At the moment, although we have got a board, it will be a couple of months before we see anything happen,” he said. “The next step is to get charitable status and then some funding.”
He added that the main communities currently represented on the board were Edderton, Kyle of Sutherland, Thurso and Helmsdale.
“These will be the communities in which the initial impact of the rail partnership will be seen,” he said. “We will be creating projects around the railway to encourage people to stop off at the various communities.”
Mr Willmot has previous experience of running a community rail partnership as chairman of the North Staffs CRP on the line between Crewe and Derby.
The £180,000 restoration project he spearheaded at Helmsdale Railway Station won the 2015 Community Rail Award for innovation in community rail.
The renovated stationmaster’s house is now run by Helmsdale Station Community Interest Company as a not-for-profit holiday letting business.
In 2019 Mr Willmot and his wife Jenny set out to discover how easy it was to travel along the North Coast 500 tourism route (NC500), using only public transport. Mr Willmot afterwards published a report with recommendations for transport improvements based on their experience.
He said about the Far North Line Community Rail Partnership: “Currently we are going through the rather long-winded process of making a formal application to the Scottish Government.”
Mr Willmot revealed planning is under way for a celebration on Friday and Saturday, June 17-18, at Helmsdale to mark the 150th anniversary of the Duke of Sutherland’s Railway between Golspie and Helmsdale.
The anniversary was last year but celebrations were delayed until 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Willmot said: “We may use this event to launch or at least promote the Far North Line Community Rail Partnership.”
