The latest heritage line to announce a returning to running is Brighton’s Volk’s Electric Railway and its very soon – Saturday 25th July! The now expected changes to operating procedures will also be in evidence on the line, which runs along Brighton seafront between the Aquarium and Black Rock, although there will not be the requirement to pre-book with tickets being sold on a daily basis.
Full social distancing measures will be in place, including when queuing for tickets and to board the trains, whilst the Visitor Centre at Aquarium will be closed and it will only be possible to board and alight the trains at either end (Aquarium and Black Rock) with the station at Halfway closed when the line reopens.
A 15 minute service will run as much as possible with departures from each end every 15 minutes Wednesday to Sunday each week. There will be no trains on Mondays or Tuesdays and the operating hours on those days which the railway does run will be 1100 to 1600.
Amongst the changes implemented are on board the trains screens have been placed between rows of seats to create self-contained “apartments”. Each group will be assigned one of these “apartments” but if your household is bigger than eight you will be seated in two different compartments. Anyone travelling will be assigned a seat when boarding and are asked to remain in this seat throughout the journey. Face masks will need to be worn (except for those exempt by government guidelines) on board the trains. When arriving at either Aquarium or Black Rock all passengers will be required to alight and join the queue for their return trip.
This will be the fourth heritage line to reopen (with a fifth in Blackpool confirmed for the end of August) and anyone travelling to Brighton for the railway is advised to keep an eye on the Volk’s Electric Railway website where regular updates and full advice/regulations can be found.