Shropshire Star

Flying Scotsman in Shropshire: Where can I park? Do I need a ticket?

Additional park-and-ride services will be arranged for the Flying Scotsman's visit to Shropshire.

Published

Bridgnorth Chamber of Commerce will be operating a park-and-ride service to assist the Severn Valley Railway in getting passengers to the station for the 'Pacific Power' event which will see Flying Scotsman visiting the town and running on the line between September 21 and 26.

The Bridgnorth station only has limited parking which will be £3 per day, available on a first-come, first-served basis for special event ticket holders only.

The free bus service to Bridgnorth station, will be in operation from September 22 to 26 from 7am to 7pm at half-hourly intervals.

It will run from the Nock Deighton Auction car park at Tasley and cars will be charged £3 per day.

The location will be signposted from all main roads coming into the town.

Chamber chairman Steve Robbins said: "We are delighted to be able to help with this event, visitors will be coming from all over the country to see Flying Scotsman and this is tremendous for the town.

"We are very fortunate to have such a successful tourist attraction in the SVR which contributes greatly to our local economy, and we are very keen to support it.

"The steam railway is very special to me personally. My very first voluntary job as a teenager was cleaning the engines before they were shunted out to pull trains.

"I'm sure there are many others who have equally fond memories, and who will be looking forward to seeing the Pacific class locomotives in full steam."

Just a handful of tickets remain for the arrival of the Flying Scotsman and the Tornado.

After the first 7,000 tickets sold out in one day, the last 500 tickets went on sale last week.

Lewis Maddox, the SVR's Events and Footplate Experience co-ordinator said: "The re-allocation of some tickets to ride behind Flying Scotsman has allowed us to re-open bookings.

"We are extremely excited about the event, and the countdown to welcoming Flying Scotsman to the Severn Valley Railway has certainly started."

A special, VIP day, featuring Flying Scotsman and organised by the Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust, will also be held on September 21.

Due to the huge popularity of the event, only those who have tickets to travel will be guaranteed access to the SVR's stations during the six days.

However, if space permits, access to all stations except Kidderminster will be available with a donation.

Clare Gibbard, the SVR's marketing and communications manager said: "It is such a huge privilege for us to be able to welcome arguably two of the biggest names in the world of heritage railways – and, unsurprisingly, the event has attracted huge amounts of attention. However, due to the unprecedented level of public demand, we will be putting in place access restrictions during the event, to ensure that everyone coming along has a safe and enjoyable experience on the railway.

"We would advise that buying a ticket in advance is the only guaranteed way to ensure access to the stations and platforms. We would also encourage people who are not travelling with us during the event to check our dedicated event webpage regularly for the latest information."

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