ANOTHER milestone is being achieved on a Dorset railway amid plans to connect up to the main line.

The first timetabled diesel train travelling from Corfe Castle and Norden on to the Swanage Railway’s newly completed four-mile extension to within sight of Wareham will run today and tomorrow – the first time in more than 40 years.

Travelling on a heritage diesel rail bus, the public will have a chance to see the work by volunteers upgrading the line between Motala, Furzebrook and Worgret Junction.

The special 12 trains a day service between Corfe Castle and the River Frome bridge is being operated as Swanage and Harman’s Cross stations are closed today and tomorrow to allow filming to take place for the Hollywood movie Dunkirk.

Swanage Railway Company chairman Trevor Parsons said: “It was on the dull and cold Saturday, January 1, 1972 that the last British Rail passenger trains ran between Swanage, Corfe Castle, Norden and the River Frome en route to Wareham.

“Our newly completed four-mile extension between Norden and the River Frome is a lovely piece of line with views of the Purbeck Hills, rare heathland and also Wareham across the River Frome water meadows. Our two-carriage heritage diesel train is perfectly suited to enjoying the delights of the countryside because it also has windows as each end of the train so you can see the line ahead and behind.”

Swanage Railway took on the lease of three miles of former Network Rail line in September 2014 – from Motala, west of Norden, to a quarter of a mile south of Worgret Junction near Wareham – to give tracks, bridges and embankments an upgrade.

The restoration work has seen 1,200 wooden track sleepers replaced, half a mile of track laid, a quarter-mile-long embankment given an upgrade, undergrowth and drainage cleared as well as the installation of a new set of track points at Furzebrook.

A new level crossing has been installed on the access road to the Wytch Farm oil field and Norden station while 2,235 cubic metres of earth has been excavated – and a new siding laid – so a new road-rail interchange could be built to enable the creation of the Norden Gates level crossing.