Nene Valley Railway receives grant worth almost £670,000 a week after being hit by arson attack

Nene Valley Railway has received a grant worth £669,873 to fund three major infrastructure projects.

It comes a week after a signal box at the railway, in Orton Mere, was destroyed in a string of suspected arson attacks across Peterborough.

The grant to the railway from Arts Council England, Cultural Investment Fund was announced the Government’s Department of Media Culture and Sport this week.

The funding will be put towards relaying worn-out tracks in Wansford, through Wansford tunnel, level crossing and yard.

It will also contribute towards relaying new roadway and drainage.

Michael Purcell, chairman of trustees at Nene Valley Railway, said: “We are very pleased that the Arts Council are supporting us in the renewal of these parts of the Nene Valley Railway.

"As custodians of these heritage assets, we shall now be raising our share of the total amount required and then getting on with the work needed.

“We look forward to running rail services over the renewed track and so that we can continue to welcome passengers for many years to come.”

Hopes that funding can preserve the railway for future generations come as two 12-year-old Peterborough schoolboys – Harry Cowley and Oliver Walker – have raised almost £11,000 between them to repair the railway’s signal box.

The century-old structure is one of the oldest signal boxes in the UK and featured in James Bond movie Octopussy in 1983 starring Roger Moore.

Vandals burned it down on March 12 when they broke into Nene Valle Railway near Peterborough.

Shailesh Vara, MP for North West Cambridgeshire, added: “This is great news for Nene Valley Railway, a historic site whose hard-working volunteers continue to preserve and promote our local railway heritage.

"It has been a difficult few years for cultural organisations, so I am pleased that the Government is dedicating funds to preserve significant sites for the benefit of communities here in North West Cambridgeshire and across the country.”