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	Light Rail News: Index 2014 > News Item

£1.5 million makeover for world's oldest electric railway

The Volk's Railway, which runs for a mile along Brighton seafront from Palace Pier to Black Rock, was the first public electric railway in the country when it opened in 1883. The line has been kept runnng by volunteers and Brighton & Hove City Council staff.

After years of waiting for a financial breakthrough, the council and the Volk's Electric Railway Association have secured £1.54 million of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to rejuvenate the attraction and create opportunities for education and community involvement. The award is available in two stages over a period of three years; the first being the 'project development phase' lasting one year for which a grant of £96,000 has been made and the second being the 'construction' phase, which must see all the work completed by March 2017.

For the first stage a Project Manager will be appointed, whose task it will be to bring together all the plans, designs, educational developments and technical specifications for presentation to the Heritage Lottery Fund. This part of the award will be completed by June 2015. Provided that the case is robust then the balance will be released.

The money will be used to:

Provide a purpose-built heritage visitor centre and ticket office at the Aquarium station, replacing the existing ex-Brighton Corporation tramway shelter that was placed there in the late 1940s.
Create a new depot (running shed) at Halfway with a viewing gallery, new maintenance pits and restoration facilities.
Restore three of the cars, Nos. 4, 6 and 10 to full working order to increase the service capacity.
Develop new learning materials and educational sessions for schools.

10 June 2014

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