THE South Devon Railway (SDR) at Buckfastleigh and Totnes gets the 2023 season on track with steam trains on Mother’s Day, March 19.

Trains will be running all day. For a special Mother’s Day treat on Sunday, a Devonshire cream tea can be pre-booked and served at your seat in the Restaurant Car for the seven mile journey from Buckfastleigh to Totnes.

General manager, Ernest Elsworth-Wilson, said: ‘This is a brilliant way to treat mum, with a comfortable seat, a delicious cream tea, the Devon countryside gently passing by your window, and the sound and sight of the steam engine at the head of the train! It’s really a day to remember but do hurry as seats are limited.’

The main season then starts a week later, on Saturday, March 25, with trains running every day until the end of October.

The reopening comes after a £150,000 investment in new trackwork at Caddaford, just south of Buckfastleigh station. A quarter of a mile of track has been re-laid with 22 sixty foot panels of track, and then re-ballasted, with drainage work carried out throughout the area.

Ernest Elsworth-Wilson, said: “It’s great to have the line connected up again. Our team working on the re-lay have done an absolutely amazing job. They completed everything three weeks ahead of schedule, which meant that we could carry out further work elsewhere on the railway while the trains weren’t running.

‘Passengers will certainly notice the difference with a smoother ride over the new section.”

The re-lay is part of a major on-going infrastructure investment programme being undertaken by the South Devon Railway.

The South Devon Railway is now planning its Family Fun Weekend which takes place at Easter, and which is being followed by The Mad Hatter’s Travelling Tea Party, on April 11 and 12.

► For more information and to book tickets, go to the railway’s website at www.southdevonrailway.co.uk