ONE of the most remote rural railways in the country once dubbed "a pretty line with an awful train service" is steaming ahead with a 50 per cent increase in passengers and more stations restored.

Volunteers helped form the Esk Valley Community Partnership nearly 13 years ago to promote and preserve the public line which runs from Middlesbrough to Whitby through large parts of the North York Moors National Park.

Operating alongside the North Yorkshire Moors heritage railway, the Esk Valley line, part of Northern Rail, now carries more than half a million passengers a year.

It was once one part of a large network built in the 1850s and 60s to serve the area, but most of the lines were axed by Beeching in the 1960s.

The current Esk Valley line was created by bringing together parts of four formerly separate railways.

It is now a crucial connection between the remote communities of the national park and Whitby and the main line at Middlesbrough, with a new station built in 2014 serving the James Cook University Hospital.

This week the latest improvement to the line will be unveiled at Glaisdale where the partnership has reopened public toilets. The work has been done through a group which adopted the station led by local supporter Roger Norris, who helped carry out the work for a third of the original cost.

Alan Williams, chairman of the partnership, said: “This is another stage in the re-invigoration of our line and we are delighted to have been able to bring this facility back into use for the benefit of both the community and our increasing visitor numbers.

“With passenger numbers on the Esk Valley line now 50 per cent up since the Community Rail Partnership was formed and growing again this year, demand for such facilities in the middle of the national park from walkers and other users of the station has grown dramatically.

"And usage is expected to grow again when additional rail services planned for next year begin.”