NEWS
NEW GENERAL MANAGER
for the BODMIN & WENFORD RAILWAY
The very popular and successful Bodmin & Wenford Railway has appointed a
new General Manager, Richard Jones (48), to build-on the excellent
progress and achievements made to date and lead the exciting next stage
of the Cornish line’s development.
Richard is due to take up his new position as General Manager with the Bodmin & Wenford Railway – one of the most respected heritage railways in the country – on 01 June 2008, though his employment with the Company will commence on 01 May 2008 to allow for a period of handover and familiarisation.
Last year, the Bodmin & Wenford Railway – which runs steam (and heritage diesel) trains for 6˝ miles from Bodmin Parkway to Boscarne Junction via Bodmin General – celebrated its best ever year in 2007, attracting more than 45,000 visitors. It is one of the county’s top all weather attractions and is the only working standard gauge heritage railway in Cornwall. It is considered by those involved within the railway heritage movement as one of the finest examples of an authentic branch line in the country.
Richard Jones replaces the
current General Manager, Roger Webster, who is retiring at the end of May,
having successfully led the Bodmin & Wenford Railway for eleven years
through a period of tremendous growth and achievement.
Left - Richard Jones
| Richard, who has a strong
railway background in both the heritage railway movement and on the
national network, started as a volunteer on the West Somerset Railway
in 1977 – the year after the line re-opened and a time when the
Cornish branch was still open for freight traffic to Wenford Bridge –
and is a former Director of both the West Somerset Railway plc and
West Somerset Railway Association, and was also Editor of the WSR Journal. For several years he has been
the Chairman of the WSR’s Special Events Planning Team, which has been
responsible for the hugely successful programme of galas that are a
feature of the Railway’s calendar. He is also a regular steam and
diesel locomotive driver on the WSR. Prior to becoming a full time railwayman –
where he served as a Driver and Guard with Virgin Trains and FM Rail – he
spent nearly eighteen years in the teaching profession, his last education
post being Primary Mathematics & Numeracy Adviser for Dorset County
Council. “We are very much looking forward to working with Richard in the future,” comments Alan Moore, Chairman of the Bodmin & Wenford Railway plc, “and know he will bring much to the railway and build still further on the great progress and achievements of the B&W over the past twenty or more years.” Paul Conibeare, General Manager of the West Somerset Railway, says: “Richard has enjoyed his time with us and we are very sorry to receive the news of his decision to move to pastures new – the WSR has, after all, been an integral part of his life for over thirty years – but his appointment as the new General Manager of the BWR is richly deserved, and he leaves with our sincere thanks for all he has achieved and our very best wishes for the future. The relationship between the West Somerset and Bodmin & Wenford is excellent and we look forward to this continuing in the future.” |
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