Shareholders at the Severn Valley Railway have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a special resolution to convert the organisation into a Charitable Community Benefit Society.

The decision was taken at the Annual General Meeting of the Severn Valley Railway’s owning and operating company, SVR (Holdings) Plc. on Saturday, 

The resolution required the support of at least 75% of voting shareholders in order for this first part of the railway’s organisational restructure to go ahead.

The company will now take the necessary steps to enact the conversion. Meanwhile, in August, members of the separately constituted Severn Valley Railway Company Limited will vote on whether to support the amalgamation of their organisation with the newly formed CCBS.

Severn Valley Railway’s managing director, Jonathan Dunster, said: ‘This historic vote by our shareholders paves the way for changes that will secure a strong and resilient future for the Severn Valley Railway.

"As a CCBS we will be eligible for significant new streams of grant funding, and will be able to apply to HMRC for Gift Aid recovery on donations received and potentially on many of our ticket sales.

"This will increase the railway’s income and help us to achieve greater financial resilience.

"Then, in the second stage of our organisational restructure, members of the SVR Company Limited will vote on whether they support the proposed amalgamation of the two companies. If they vote in favour by at least the same 75% majority, this will mean the railway will be able to achieve substantial cost savings by avoiding duplicate charges for services such as banking, accounting and auditing.

"It makes so much sense all round, as well as reducing other financial and administrative burdens which, in the end, use up money that could be better spent on developing the railway and protecting the heritage assets in our care.

"Before putting the proposal to our shareholders, we consulted widely. We saw that there was a groundswell of support for what we called the One Railway project.

"Now we know for certain that the majority of our shareholders want us to continue with the conversion to a CCBS, and we thank them for their clear mandate."