When most people think of Britain’s multitude of heritage railways, they envisage pretty stations, old-fashioned coaches and steam locomotives trading firmly on nostalgia and offering a break from today’s often hectic pace of life.
What most people don’t consider for a second is that these vital parts of our tourist economy operate under the Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations 2006, better known as ROGS – and that there is now a growing focus from the Office of Rail and Road on ensuring every heritage railway is as safe as it possibly can be for staff and passengers.
This has a particular resonance following the publication of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail in May this year, which offered the suggestion that Community Rail Partnerships and other organisations might be able to operate branch lines and some isolated rural routes. Any organisation which seeks to do so will immediately find itself needing to comply with ROGS.
Enter Andy Castledine, a career railwayman who started with English Welsh & Scottish Railway in 2001, working for a variety of franchised train operators including Chiltern Railways and London Overground before helping owning groups deliver franchi…
