What a Day

After all the doom and gloom of COVID  lockdown the country is getting back on its feet.  The railways have been slow at embracing the recovery phase, a huge proportion of the population still believing that rail travel is for essential workers only.  Today was the first day of the first-class-only scheduled train service over the S&C from Skipton to Appleby.  Four return first class trains over the roof of England.

I had the privilege of being the commentator on the first train, working from the guard's compartment with a rather limited view of where the heck we were!  Numbers of paying passengers were limited and definitely need to pick up to ensure long term success.   BBC Breakfast were there to cover things and it will be on the telly in the morning.

Here is a most odd picture of the masked-up High Sheriff on North Yorkshire, organiser Adrian Quine and rail buff Pete Waterman at Skipton before the first departure: