Date: 25/05/2019

Two heritage railways fear government measures to limit the burning of coal could affect their ability to operate. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) wants to ban the burning of household coal by 2025. The lines in North and West Yorkshire say they could have to import coal, which would be prohibitively expensive. A Defra spokesman said: 'Air pollution is a significant threat to public health and the government has a duty to take action.' The North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which runs steam engines between Pickering and Whitby, said the proposed ban was a 'significant threat' The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway runs on five miles of track and was used in the film, The Railway Children. Both railways believe the domestic coal ban would make mining it commercially unviable in the UK and they would have to turn to foreign imports at a much greater cost.

External links

Coal ban poses 'threat to steam trains'

BBC News

A future ban on burning household coal worries heritage railways in North and West Yorkshire.

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