Steam trains win bank holiday reprieve as Network Rail lifts fire-risk ban
Steam trains will be able to run on the mainline during one of the busiest weeks of the year after heavy rain eased concerns about the threat of track-side fires.
Network Rail lifted a steam ban on popular routes in North West England including the Settle & Carlisle and Cumbrian Coast lines, while the operator of the Jacobite train in Scotland said it would switch back to steam from diesel.
Amber alerts indicating a risk of fire across the wider network were meanwhile downgraded after downpours on Friday night soaked lineside vegetation that had been tinderbox dry.
An expert on Network Rail's special trains team said that months of minimal rainfall had created 'brown corridors' at substantial risk of being ignited by embers jettisoned by steam engines.
He said: 'The entire country has been at high alert, but some routes, particularly in the North West, have been forced to ban steam in recent weeks as the risk has just been too great.
'But with the weather turning and rain arriving Friday night and over the weekend, the risk is reducing and steam can once again run on our metals.'
This year has seen the driest start to spring in England since 1956, with half the expected rainfall in April and only a quarter of the long-term average in March.
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