The railway’s first services of the year will begin on 14 February, followed by a Valentine’s Day lunch train on Sunday 15 February. It will have 3 days of trains available during the school holiday week beginning Monday 16 February and then its full running season will begin on 28 February and run until 31 October.

November and December will see the return of THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Rides to Wensleydale Railway. Tickets for this event sold out last year, and the railway welcomed over 50,000 guests on board its special Christmas services. Tickets are on sale now for THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Christmas 2026 season.

The railway’s popular on-train catering events will return with 7 ‘Wensleydale Fryer’ fish and chips trains, and 12 afternoon tea trains. Due to high demand, the railway has increased its food offering to include 2 Indian-inspired afternoon tea trains and 2 Indian cuisine evening trains. The model railway show, home fleet diesel gala and industrial diesel weekend events will also return.

In conjunction with the Yorkshire Dales Classic Car Club, the railway is planning its first classic vehicle rally, to be held on the Early May Bank Holiday, Monday 4 May. Vintage vehicles will be on display at Leeming Bar and Scruton stations, together with live music, food and drink and a full train service running between Scruton and Leyburn. The railway will also be increasing the number of diesel locomotive-hauled services it operates throughout the summer months.

Nick Keegan, Marketing and Fundraising Manager at Wensleydale Railway said: “We have, once again, made the decision not to increase our scheduled train ticket prices. We remain conscious of the financial pressures that our visitors face and hope that this price freeze continues making a visit to our volunteer-led railway a great value day out.

We will also continue offering a range of value-for-money options for our customers. Our ‘kids-for-a-quid’ travel offer returns this year. This allows children aged 3-15 to travel for only £1.00 on all our normal scheduled train services (excluding special events). We also offer a 25% travel discount to local residents and a 50% discount to members of our charitable Trust.”

He added: “In addition to our comprehensive list of events planned this year, we plan to run diesel locomotive-hauled services on Wednesdays and Saturdays from July to mid-September. Every weekend that has a catering train will also be loco-hauled all day. Our home fleet of diesel locomotives are very popular with railway enthusiasts and it’s great to be able to offer visitors more opportunities to enjoy our preserved locos and travel in our recently refurbished heritage coaches.”

For more information and to book tickets:

Visit - https://wensleydale-railway.co.uk/running-days-2026/

Email - admin@wensleydalerailway.com

Phone - 01677 425 805