RYEDALE’S famous heritage railway broke all records last year carrying 350,000 passengers – up 11 per cent on the previous record set in 2007.

Philip Benham, the general manager of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, said: “This confirms the railway as one of Yorkshire’s most popular and important tourist attractions,” adding the attraction was now worth £30 million a year to the Ryedale and North Yorkshire economy.

He said the success was due to several factors – more people holidaying at home due to the recession, and the low value of sterling against the euro, which made many destinations prohibitively expensive. Mr Benham said: “The growing attraction of Whitby as a destination was also important, with more visitors appreciating the chance to combine the scenery of the North York Moors with a trip to the seaside.”

Overall, turnover increased by seven per cent, from £4.75m to £5.08m, with passenger fare income hitting the £3 million mark for the first time. The railway won two tourism awards last year – sharing best visitor attraction (over 50,000 visitors) from the Moors & Coast Tourism Partnership, with Eden Camp, and the best marketing campaign in the York Tourism Awards.

It was also successful in becoming an accredited museum.

However, warned Mr Benham, the railway is now facing a challenging year.

“These positive results are vitally important as we start a particularly tough year with many challenges. “Running a heritage railway such as ours is becoming increasingly expensive as infrastructure, not to mention our historic locomotives and rolling stock, get ever older and more costly to maintain.

“We have also seen some of our running costs increase dramatically. Coal has doubled in price over the last couple of years, while diesel and other oil-based products have also risen sharply.”

Murray Brown, chairman of the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust, said: “The trust is delighted to see the railway going from strength to strength, but is also mindful of the huge financial and practical challenges ahead to secure a successful long-term future.”