Ref. 25971-31SWINDON'S ailing Steam Museum could benefit from closer ties with another of the town's railway attractions, it was claimed today.

And Jeff Austen, chairman of the Blunsdon-based Swindon and Cricklade Railway, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, reckons his heritage railway could even provide the live steam the town's Great Western Railway museum is looking for.

On Tuesday, the Evening Advertiser revealed that live steam had been included in the original plans for Steam, but the idea was scrapped for fear that the £200,000 projected cost was unfeasible.

That idea has now been resurrected by a task group charged with reducing Steam's £500,000-a-year deficit.

Mr Austen said that his facility, which has three steam locomotives running on a mile-long line could one day connect directly with the town centre and the museum.

In the meantime, he believes Steam could include trips to the railway as part of its weekend events, and that would be cheaper than introducing live steam.

He said: "The beauty of the Swindon and Cricklade Railway is that people can come along and experience the excitement, sights and smells of a working railway. You obviously don't get that at Steam.

"If we could somehow bring the railway and the museum closer together, people could ride on the trains and then view the history of the Great Western Railway."

"Our difficulty is that we are not open all of the week. One idea might be to operate a bus service between Steam and the railway on weekends. What I would like to see is the council and Steam to work with us. In the very long-term I would like to see the railway connect with Swindon station."

Coun John Taylor (Lab, Central), chairman of the Steam Task Group, which is charged with reducing the museum's yearly running deficit of £575,000, welcomed the suggestion but added Steam should make mundane changes like sorting out car parking, proper signage and corporate hospitality before it thinks about live steam.

He said: "Steam has been used as a political football and the financial imbalance has been an easy target but the games must stop now. The task group is always on the lookout for new partnerships and I have no doubt that if we could work with the Swindon and Cricklade Railway, there would be many positive outcomes."

Steam has less than 100,000 visitors a year. The Swindon and Cricklade railway has around 8,000 visitors a year but that figure is growing. Currently the railway stands at just over a mile in length, but with the recent construction of a bridge over the River Ray, the length of the line should double in the next year. In the next three years, it should run to a new station at Mouldon Hill in north Swindon.

The cost of the line extension is being paid for with a £132,000 rural enterprise grant from the Department of Rural Affairs, which needs to be matched by the railway with labour and materials. Costs for a link to Swindon station would be likely to reach a seven-figure sum.

Tim Bryan, general manager of Steam, said he would welcome an improved relationship between the museum and the railway.

He said: "We have worked together on occasion before and we do spread the word about each other. They have participated in various events at Steam and we will be running a special bus service to and from the museum to the railway during their 25th anniversary weekend."