The North Yorkshire Moors Railway had more visitors than ever before in 2009.  A total of 350,000 people came to North Yorkshire to enjoy a day out on the Railway.    The figure includes those who enjoyed a taste of indulgence on the Railway’s Pullman dining train.  This figure comfortably beats the previous record of 323, 000 achieved in 2007.

The figures represent an 11 per cent rise on 2008, helping to confirm the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as one of Yorkshire’s most popular and important tourist attractions.

The success is being attributed to a number of factors.    There were many more people holidaying at home, partly due to the recession but also due to the low value of sterling against other currencies, especially the euro, making many European destinations seem very expensive.  The growing attraction of Whitby as a destination was also important, with more and more visitors appreciating the chance to combine the scenery of the North York Moors scenery, with a trip to the seaside.  And the railway improved its marketing, at a time when a new campaign was launched to promote Yorkshire to both a national and international audience.

Overall turnover increased by 7%, from £4.75m to £5.08m, with passenger fare income hitting the £3 million mark for the first time.

The Railway continued to deliver a number of special events, including the first ever appearance on the line of the newly built steam engine TORNADO, and the hosting of the ever popular ‘Railway at War’ event in October, now in its 17^th year and which a featured on the BBC Newsnight programme.

The Railway won two top tourism awards for its efforts – Best Visitor Attraction (over 50,000 visitors) from the Moors & Coast Tourism Partnership (which it shared with Eden Camp) and Best Marketing Campaign in the York Tourism Awards.   It also applied for and was successful in becoming an accredited Museum.

The good trading results came at an important time for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as it faces a particularly tough year, as Philip Benham, the Railway’s General Manager explained:

“We are obviously very pleased at these record trading results at the end of a year that started with great uncertainty over how the recession might affect us. Everyone associated with the Railway can feel justly proud of these achievements as a fitting tribute to the commitment and passion of our staff, many of whom are volunteers.

“These positive results are vitally important as we start a particularly tough year with many challenges.  Running a heritage railway such as ours is becoming increasingly expensive as infrastructure, not to mention and our historic locomotives and rolling stock, get ever older and more costly to maintain.

“Our first task is to complete the costly replacement of Bridge 30 between Goathland and Grosmont ready for the start of our main season at the end of March.  We have been greatly helped by the £670k in grants and donations raised through our ‘Bridge and Wheels’ Appeal.  We are most grateful to all who have responded so positively, but this remains one of the most complex and expensive projects NYMR has ever undertaken; with extra costs arising recently by having to recover from time inevitably lost by the worst winter weather for 30 years!

“We have also seen some of our running costs increase dramatically.  Coal, for example, has all but doubled in price over the last couple of years, while diesel and other oil based products have also risen sharply.

“There is still much uncertainty about trading prospects for 2010.  At best the economy is barely out of recession, and with job losses threatened virtually on our doorstep in Teesside and elsewhere in the North East, we have to be prudent and must ensure we manage the business with great care.

“So we approach the year ahead with confidence, but mindful of the need to deliver value for money in all we do, and a visitor experience second to none. Last year’s excellent results show the growing importance of NYMR to the economy in this part of rural North Yorkshire, where we are at the heart of a corridor of tourism excellence stretching from York to the coast.”

Murray Brown, Chairman of the owning North York Moors Historical Railway Trust, added: “I think we can safely say that 2009 will go down in the history books as being a year of major success.     The Trust is delighted to see the Railway going from strength to strength, but is also mindful of the huge financial and practical challenges ahead to secure a successful long-term future.  This is vital, not only for the Railway, but also for the local area. We are continually thankful for the support we receive from our Members, our visitors, our stakeholders and our staff and volunteers.  Long may this continue as we strive to retain and enhance the heritage value of the Railway which, clearly, brings pleasure to so many.”