All options are being considered to reduce costs and generate revenue on the island’s heritage railways.
That was the message from director of public transport Ian Longworth after it was announced that the taxpayers’ subsidy for running the lines is to be cut by 15 per cent over the next two to three years.
Mr Longworth said one option being considered is to reduce the number of staffed stations.
Cutting back the length of the heritage railways was another option, he admitted. But he stressed this would be very much a last resort.
‘It’s something we wouldn’t want to do. But it has to be an option,’ he told the Manx Independent.
Currently there are five stations on the Steam Railway that are manned – Douglas, Ballasalla, Castletown, Port St Mary and Port Erin.
Mr Longworth said: ‘It’s a question of whether we can man all the stations we do currently.’
He said features such as the hanging baskets which maintain the ambience of the Victorian line were also an option for cutbacks.
The railways run at a loss of about £2.3m a year, but it is estimated they contribute more than £11m a year to national income.
A new policy to reduce the government subsidy to 50 per cent of overall running costs over the next two to three years was agreed at a departmental meeting earlier this month.
When Mr Longworth took over as public transport director the railways only covered 18 per cent of running costs.
That figure has now risen to 35 per cent. Reducing the government subsidy to 50 per cent will mean the railways will have to cover an extra £0.53m of running costs.
‘When I came here the railways covered about 18 per cent of the direct operating costs. That’s now in the mid 30s and the Minister has given me the target of 50 per cent,’ said Mr Longworth. ‘We are starting to evaluate where there are operating costs to be saved. We do put quite a bit into maintaining ambience but that’s a key feature of a heritage railway. We’re going to have to look at that issue so you may see the hanging baskets disappear.’
A controversial £1.4m scheme has been unveiled to secure the future of Douglas station.