WEST Somerset Railway faced being killed off as a going concern unless shareholders backed a plan to delay publishing the company accounts, an extraordinary general meeting of the railway was told last Saturday.

A total of 100 of the 102 shareholders voted to delay revealing the accounts for three months.

This will give directors and auditors a chance to look at this summer’s improved trading figures alongside last year’s 15-month loss-making accounts to show that the business can continue.

The decision came after WSR vice-chairman Mark Smith said shareholders were facing a stark choice. The 15-month accounts were so poor that publication could well kill the railway off as a going concern.

He said: “If we get it right today, then we will have a railway going forward. But if we get it wrong then we’ll have a cycle track. It’s that simple.”

The meeting was told that in the past year the line had not been running smoothly. Rail inspectors had demanded improvements which resulted in a three-month closure, and a new board had been dismayed by the state of the accounts.

Mr Smith said the board had been shocked by the 15 months of poor trading figures and by the scale of the losses. But financial performance had improved this year.

There was now money in the bank and figures for April to October were expected to confirm that WSR was now a viable business and that the current business model being followed would guarantee a strong future.

Support had also come from the Railway Association and the Steam Railway Trust, and the Rail Renewal appeal now stood at £80,000 of the £250,000 set for this year.

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