Up to 100 new volunteer guards are needed at the Severn Valley Railway to safeguard the future of services running from Bridgnorth, bosses said today.

Severn Valley train crew manager Mel Cook, himself a volunteer, said that there were not enough guards for all the trains now run by the railway. Mr Cook said a few volunteers were currently keeping the service up and running.

And with about half of the 75 volunteers currently working on the trains expected to retire in the next 10 to 15 years, Mr Cook said he was keen to head off a potential crisis by signing up new volunteers now.

He said: “We haven’t had to cancel any trains yet, but we are relying on the goodwill of a relatively few volunteers in order to meet the demands of the train crew roster.

“We could take 30 more guards without even blinking. If we could get 100, I’d be absolutely thrilled.”
Mr Cook added: “Seventy-five guards might seem a lot, but this includes members who, because of their job, or their family or other commitments, can only work on the railway one or two weekends a year.

“That’s fine – we’re very happy to accept new volunteers on that basis — but on the reverse side of the coin, on a busy August Saturday we’re running five train sets, and maybe a ‘driving school’ and for that we need nine or ten guards.

“It’s a tall order, and an ever-increasing workload is falling on fewer shoulders.

“It means we’re having to ask some of our train guards to do 30 or 40 turns a year — and that is putting too much responsibility on too few shoulders.”

A volunteer recruitment day was due to be held today from 10am to 4pm at Kidderminster Railway Museum, which is adjacent to the town station, in a bid to drum up numbers.

Prospective new guards were invited to drop in for a chat and a cup of coffee, with the chance to learn the basics of guarding from serving SVR volunteers and watch a 10-minute DVD following a day in the life of a train guard.

Anyone interested in signing up as a volunteer is urged to e-mail Mr Cook at melcook@svrtoc.org.uk or call Barry Moreton on (01299) 401776.