Value of North Yorkshire Moors Railway volunteers mustn’t be forgotten - The Yorkshire Post says

It is also reflected in the interest in the goings on at North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR), which earlier this year disciplined seven long-serving volunteers.

NYMR feared that a 60-strong group of unpaid workers at Levisham Station were operating independently of management and their activities were suspended last summer.

Now those volunteers have hit back refuting the catalogue of allegations made against them.

Whatever the reality is, this whole sorry saga does nobody any good. People in Yorkshire are rightly proud of NYMR and don’t want to see this drawn out.

The whole saga has been mired by a lack of transparency. Ultimately, that’s what people want - transparency.

But above and beyond, mediation needs to be the priority between the volunteers and the management of NYMR. All of those who have been disgruntled by this saga need to get around the table and clear the air.

What must not be forgotten is the value of volunteers. Without their passion, assets such as heritage railways would not be where they are today.

That is certainly the case with NYMR. Some people who have contacted The Yorkshire Post have been involved since the 1960s and 70s.

The transition from a Beeching-mothballed mainline to the preserved railway it has become today, which has captured the imagination of so many people, wouldn’t have been possible without their efforts. NYMR’s management needs to ensure it engages with these volunteers