2010 Reconnection To The National Network
On 25 January 2010, Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate travelled on the Weardale line checking bridges, fences and crossings along the 18-mile stretch between Stanhope and Bishop Auckland. Only a few minor works were needed to get the line ready for passenger use, and these were completed in time for a London King's Cross to Stanhope charter train to run. In February 2010, this became the first mainline passenger service to travel the line since the 1980s. It was followed on 27 February by a railtour from Crewe to Stanhope, operated by Spitfire Railtours.
Regular passenger services to Bishop Auckland started on 23 May 2010.
The railway is currently negotiating contracts to transport stone and aggregates out of Weardale, and has recently received planning permission to load opencast coal, mined in the Crook area, at its depot in Wolsingham. The first loaded coal train left Wolsingham on 16 June 2011 bound for steel works in Scunthorpe. It is hoped that this will become a five-train-a-week operation.
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