A HERITAGE railway faces a make-or-break week as it prepares for a crucial line inspection.

Rail inspector David Keay will be on the first train to run from Weardale to Bishop Auckland, on Wednesday, checking the track is fit for a connection with main line services in July.

While the line’s US-owned operator British American Rail Services negotiates with rail authorities to run freight and tourist services, volunteers from the Weardale Railway Trust have been preparing for the inspection by clearing the track and repairing crossing gates.

On Friday, a DMU railcar became the first full-gauge train for more than 13 years to run from Wolsingham to Witton Park, where its test run was cut short because vandals had lifted a section of track.

The line’s operator needs a licence to extend the services from its current five-mile run between Wolsingham and Stanhope.

The organisaion is looking towards income from freight operation – initially quarried stone and aggregates – to subsidise the heritage routes and pay for track updates, which could ultimately mean the return of regular passenger services after 50 years.

The line operator is also applying to run services on the national network in the name of Devon and Cornwall Railways and is keen to operate visitor services between Weardale and Locomotion: the National Railway Museum, at Shildon.

The group recently quoted research showing that up to four million tonnes of freight could be carried from Weardale to Tyneside and Teesside, while a study by independent advisory group Steer Davies Gleave revealed that a national connection could increase passenger journeys sixfold, to 120,000 a year.

More good news for the railway could follow at the end of the month if approval is won for steam services.

The steam loco No 40 owned by the trust passed its “fitness” test last week and now needs repainting and minor adjustments.

Trust spokesman Ian Gardner said: “Everything looks reasonable for the inspection.

“These are exciting times and things seem to be going well. Passenger numbers are up on last year and on Saturday we carried our biggest ever group, a party of 93 from Sure Start, in Willington.”

The railway’s next event is a teddy bears’ picnic on May 24.