Railway hits back at criticism of its lockdown appeal

Llangollen Railway has taken to Facebook to counter criticism on social media about the appeal it is running for cash to see it through the coronavirus lockdown.

In a statement general manager Liz McGuinness says the heritage railway is struggling to make ends meet since it closed as a result of the pandemic and needs the money to stay in business.

She also points out that the railway puts £8.5 million a year into the economy of the town and says a figure of around £800,000 for wages which is being quoted was for 2018 when the railway had more staff.

In the statement she says: “In view of some of the negative comments towards Llangollen Railway posted on here yesterday and today I would like to respond.

“Firstly, it is not usual for a charity that is asking for funding to publicise their expenses.

“Secondly, Llangollen Railway puts £8.5 million into Llangollen every year, by the way of visitors spending money in cafés, hotels, restaurants and bed and breakfast establishments.

“How can anyone comment on how much money we need to maintain a £1.8 million turnover business that has a massive infrastructure that has to be maintained to Office Rail Regulation standards and meet Grade 2 listed status?

“These things take a lot of money.

“There is one manager running the railway, the general manager.

“Directors are volunteers and do not get any in remuneration in any form including not receiving any expenses.

“We have not made a profit for the past three years. In 2018/19 we had a very bad year financially due to some issues we had in our engineering department, this has never been hidden and has been on public record since 2019.

“We are offering people the opportunity to buy shares or vouchers, we are not selling tickets until we know when we can open.

“The ticket price for events such as Santa trains is governed by what it costs us to run that event.

“We do offer local tickets and we do donate to local schemes. The railway put on a special school train for the Eisteddfod in 2019, and we have supported many schools with the raffles and events.

“The wage bill is no longer £800,000 as you are looking at 2018 accounts and we have less staff now. We unfortunately do not have £50,000 in reserve.

“Shareholders are helping and donating, they do not get a dividend, they purchase shares to support the railway.

“The only benefit is a small number of free travel tickets in proportion to their investment. Any profits are ploughed back into maintenance of the hugely expensive infrastructure.

“For those of you saying we shouldn’t have any outgoings if closed, you’re wrong. We still have to pay insurance, utility bills and many creditors that will not wait for payment.

“We have applied for a government grant but do not know if we have been successful. As previously stated, we are not entitled to many of the grants available. We have applied for the rate rebate.

“Llangollen Railway is mainly run by volunteers, the volunteers work extremely hard so the general public can enjoy their time with us. We are one of the largest employers in the area. We employ 36 staff and many of our staff live in the area.

“I am not sure why people are so negative about the railway considering the amount of money we put into the economy and local businesses.

“No-one is forcing anyone to donate, all we are doing is asking.

“It is extremely disappointing to see that other railways such as Severn Valley Railway and North Yorkshire Moors Railway, get lots of support from their local communities yet Llangollen Railway seems to get negative comments from many of our local community.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to those of you who do you support us and help us on a daily basis by volunteering or just being very positive about what we do for the community.”