A CHARTER train operator has fulfilled its pledge to revisit a country branch line that came to its rescue in a crisis last year.

The Wensleydale, an excursion starting in London next Friday and taking in the 22-mile line between Northallerton and Redmire, is already fully booked with 330 passengers and is expected to give a boost to the Friday market at Leyburn during a 90-minute stop in the town.

The trip is being organised by Hertfordshire Railtours, which was left with only two days to organise an alternative route last year after its plans to run a special passenger train along the line from Darlington to Boulby in East Cleveland, as part of the Darlington Community Rail Festival, hit the buffers because of operational problems.

Wensleydale Railway stepped in by inviting the company to run a train on two days instead between Northallerton and Redmire, after which Hertfordshire Railtours said it would return to the line this year.

Passengers on the Wensleydale, which starts at King's Cross and picks up at Stevenage and Peterborough, are paying £120 a head for a 14-hour day out in luxury Blue Pullman carriages hauled by two Class 47 diesel locomotives.

Wensleydale Railway chairwoman Ruth Annison said: "We welcome charters and this one is going to be a terrific boost for the market at Leyburn. We will have members out there that day to welcome passengers.

"We are very pleased to welcome Hertfordshire Railtours back after we were able to help them last year. Friday is one of the days on which we are not running our own trains at this time of the year, so this gives them more freedom over timings.

"Another charter train by another operator has been confirmed in May and there is potential for a steam one. Charters allow us to use our assets to earn more money, which in turn helps the development of the railway."

The Wensleydale is expected to join the branch from the main line at Castle Hills, Northallerton, at 12.56 and leave Redmire on the return journey at 4.30.