The North Yorkshire Moors Railway will not open for the season due to coronavirus

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway was due to begin running its timetabled train services again in April following the winter break.

But the season opening and events have now been postponed indefinitely.

Although there have been no reported cases of Covid-19 among railway staff and volunteers, the NYMR relies on a large volunteer force, many of whom are aged over 70 and in at-risk groups.

Events scheduled through to July - including the volunteer recruitment day, wedding fair, diesel gala, 1960s festival and behind-the-scenes tours - have all been cancelled. It is hoped that the 1940s wartime weekend and autumn steam gala may still go ahead.

The decision is expected to be financially costly for the railway, which relies on income from passenger and event ticket sales from April to October to fund maintenance of its historic locomotives, rolling stock, track and stations.

Steam and vintage diesel services run from Pickering to Grosmont and into Whitby during the season.

The NYMR is the UK's busiest heritage railway, carrying more than 400,000 passengers per year.

A statement released by the NYMR on March 18 read: "In light of the current government advice, we have made the difficult decision to delay the opening of North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s 2020 season until further notice.

"While there have been no reported cases of coronavirus at the railway, the wellbeing of our visitors, staff and volunteers is our absolute priority and matters of health and safety have our complete attention.

"As a registered charity we would strongly recommend that if you have a pre-booked ticket you move your booking to later in the 2020 season where possible, or we can refund your booking by gift card to use later. Alternatively, we are happy to move your date of travel/event, to the 2021 season and honour 2020 prices where possible. For refunds on pre-booked tickets full T&Cs are applicable.

"When contacting our customer service team, please quote your booking reference. Contact [email protected] or telephone 01751 472508 (Monday to Friday 09:00 – 16:30).

"Please rest assured that we’re closely monitoring the situation and will of course post any updates or changes to these plans across our social channels, and on our website"