The Duke of Gloucester is to visit the flood damaged Severn Valley Railway to see how repairs are progressing. Prince Richard has been patron of the SVR since 1998.

He will be given a tour of the line, which suffered about £2.5million of damage in the summer, on Wednesday.

Three-quarters of the railway’s 16-mile line remains closed, with only the Kidderminster to Bewdley section open.

Managers hope the Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade line will be restored by the end of October.

The duke will watch a presentation showing some of the major civil engineering work completed or in progress since the floods in June.

It is nearly a year since his last visit to the railway, when he formally opened the £650,000 extension to Kidderminster station.

Among those to greet him will be SVR (Holdings) company chairman Michael York and general manager Nick Ralls.

The duke will be shown a photographic survey of the disaster, in which large sections of trackbed were washed away.

He will arrive at Bewdley station, and make the short journey by steam-hauled royal train to Kidderminster.

The grandson of the King George V is said to have a keen interest in railways and steam locomotives. He has previously driven locomotives on the SVR line.

Last week about 2,500 people visited the railway’s annual Steam Gala Weekend, one of the biggest events in its calender.

Several hundred people attended scaled-down events at Bridgnorth Station, from where trains are still unable to run.