After almost 50 years, a train service has returned to Wensleydale in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales national park.

The first train between Leeming Bar and Leyburn ran on 4 July and a regular service of four trains per day in each direction will run until 31 October. If the demand is seen to be sufficient, this could be extended.

Part of an original cross-country route which ran between Northallerton, on the East Coast main line, and Garsdale, on the Settle & Carlisle line, the 12 mile stretch of track has been reopened on a 99-year lease by the Wensleydale Railway plc.

The scheme sprang from an original idea by local businesswoman, Ruth Annison, and the plc was formed following a public meeting in May 1990.

Annison points out that the company’s aim is to run a proper commercial operation, forming part of the region’s transport provision, and not be merely another railway preservation scheme.

Wensleydale’s narrow roads frequently get clogged with tourist traffic and the train service is seen as an environmentally sustainable solution to the problem. A bus service will carry passengers between Leeming Bar and Northallerton but the company hopes, over time, to extend the trains east between the two and also west beyond Leyburn.

Funding for the line came from a £2.5m share issue launched by the company in November 2000. By early this year, the issue – which remains open – had raised over £1m. Details: www.wensleydalerailway.com