TRAIN enthusiasts are chuffed after scooping £3million to link Swanage Railway to the main line.

They hope it will be full steam ahead for the project after Dorset and Purbeck councils together pledged cash for vital main line re-signalling work by Network Rail.

The works will keep hopes alive for a permanent year-round train service to run from the main line at Wareham to Corfe Castle and Swanage.

Swanage Railway Trust chairman Steve Doughty said: “We are absolutely delighted at this important once in a generation opportunity and long-term commitment to the development of public transport in Dorset.

“It keeps the door open for an all-year-round community train service and so deliver one of the Swanage Railway’s original goals from 1972, when the last daily service ran.

“We still have a long way to go but this is the most important step.”

Purbeck District Council approved the upgrade of the connection of the Swanage Railway to the national rail network as part of its Purbeck Transportation Strategy at a meeting in Wareham.

Dorset County Council also voted to support the project.

Up to £3million across three years will come from a transport development fund which property developers pay into – the money being collected by Purbeck District Council and spent by Dorset County Council as the transport authority for the Isle of Purbeck.

Network Rail plans to re-signal the main London to Weymouth line between Poole and Wool during 2012.

If Worgret Junction is re-signalled at the same time it will cost £3million.

If the junction is re-signalled at a later date, it could cost up to £10million.

The next step is for the Swanage Railway to take responsibility for the three and a half miles of Network Rail single line between Worgret Junction, Furzebrook and Motala which is the start of the Swanage Railway tracks to Corfe Castle and Swanage.

Once acquired, the Swanage Railway would upgrade the three and a half miles of single line to the standards required for a regular service to Wareham.