Steam engines have been temporarily suspended on an East Hampshire heritage railway because of wildfire fears during the hot, dry spell.

The move comes despite the Watercress Line, which runs between Alton and Alresford, not being covered by Network Rail's national ban on steam trains.

Diesel engines are pulling trains instead after the railway voluntarily adopted the same precautionary approach while monitoring the weather.

Steam locomotives burn coal, which can release hot cinders and sparks from their chimneys. In dry conditions, these can ignite grass and other vegetation beside the railway, increasing the risk of wildfires.

The Watercress Line's diesel engine number 47579 - Class 47 James Nightall GC.
The Watercress Line's diesel engine number 47579 - Class 47 James Nightall GC. (Richard Bentley)

Network Rail has temporarily banned steam trains after a West Coast Railway train was believed to have sparked a wildfire in Cheshire, causing cancellation and delays to dozens of trains on the West Coast Main Line.

A Watercress Line spokesperson said last Friday: “The team at the Watercress Line understands that Network Rail can only impose the ban on railways that operate steam on the main line, so their nationwide ban doesn't directly affect the Watercress Line as they only operate on their own line.

“However, they have placed themselves on a temporary steam ban while they continue to monitor the weather conditions, so this weekend they will be operating diesel only and keeping their loco roster page up-to-date.”

A Network Rail spokesperson said that the company had asked charter train operators to replace steam engines with diesels “in line with our steam charter fire risk policy”.

Although the restriction does not apply to heritage railways such as the Watercress Line, it has chosen to follow the same policy while the dry weather continues.

The Watercress Line put two diesel locomotives into service for the July 18-19 weekend – the Class 47 number 47579 James Nightall GC and the Class 20 number D8059.

As of July 17, fire and rescue services in England and Wales had responded to 342 wildfires so far this year, with 65 covering areas of 75 acres or more.

The Watercress Line is a 10-mile heritage railway running between Alresford and Alton on part of the former Mid-Hants Railway.