Charter Bookings
Planning a party?? visiting other attractions within the estate?? why not round off the day by chartering the railway.
Bentley Miniature Railway can provide a Charter Service for School groups, Playgroups, Birthday parties and other organised groups who visit Bentley on our normal operating days and days when the railway is not operating. The Charter Service is usually available between 12 noon and 4pm, but times may be varied by agreement when placing a booking. All bookings should normally be made at least 1 month in advance of the visit, via our web site or by email. If this is not possible, bookings can be registered on site by passing a completed booking request to a senior member of staff.
Costs:
The following is the 2023 scale of charges for our Charter Service:
- Passenger numbers not exceeding 40 - Price £100
- Passenger numbers 41- 60 - Price £150
- Passenger numbers 61-100 - Price £240
- Passenger numbers in excess of 100 POA
School Groups:
Reductions to the above for school groups apply. Please contact us for more information.
Please Note:
The rates above reflect the provision of adequately trained Staff and the operation of the Locomotives and rolling stock for your Group's use.
Your party will have unlimited use of the railway for the duration of their visit.
Where the party is made up primarily of children, the passenger numbers shown above ONLY refer to the number of children in the party. We will not make any charge for teachers or other adults in the party. If, however, the party is made up primarily of adults, they will all be chargeable.
Cancellation
Bentley Miniature Railway reserves the right to postpone a booking if there is heavy rain or for other operational or staffing reasons. This will be because of safety and the decision of our Duty Manager is final. If bad weather does not affect our safety systems the booking may go ahead if you wish. If you cancel your booking giving more than 48 hours' notice your payment will be refunded, or your booking can be postponed to a later date. If you cancel your booking giving less than 48 hours' notice your payment will not be refunded, or your booking can be postponed to a later date.
Locomotives
Bentley Miniature Railway operates Battery Electric, Petrol and Steam Locomotives. For groups with passenger numbers below 40 we will normally provide a battery-electric or petrol/diesel-powered locomotive. Depending on the arrangements made for the group’s visit to the railway, for numbers above 40 we may provide a battery-electric or petrol-powered locomotive or a steam locomotive at our discretion. Please note that, although we will always try and meet an organiser’s wishes, our locomotives are privately owned by individual members and it is therefore not possible to guarantee to provide any particular locomotive.
Safety
A senior member of our staff is appointed as Duty Manager whenever the railway is operating and they are responsible for all aspects of the day’s operation. Please make yourselves known to the Duty Manager when you arrive at the railway, and any concerns should be discussed with them. We take safety very seriously and ensure that our locomotives and rolling stock are properly maintained and certified (where necessary) and that all operating rules are followed.
For safety, school groups and playgroups must provide one adult per carriage whilst children are being carried on the railway. We reserve the right to remove from our trains any passenger who, in the opinion of the Duty Manager, behaves in an unacceptable manner. Teachers/organisers are encouraged to visit the railway on a normal operating day before the arranged charter so that a senior member of our operations team can answer any questions they may have about the operation of the railway. This will help the teachers/organisers to complete their own risk assessment. Organisers of groups containing passengers who have limited mobility or other special needs are strongly advised to visit the railway before making a booking to ensure that they are satisfied our carriages are suitable for their group's special needs.
We will contact you within 5 working days of receiving your message to discuss your arrangements.
Please ensure that you provide a contact telephone number so that we can contact you to discuss any points of concern.
Please Note
-
We are an entirely voluntary organisation and there may be occasions when we are unable to provide an adequate number of trained staff for the safe operation of the railway. On these rare occasions it will, regretfully, be necessary to decline a booking.
-
For school groups, we will not normally make any charges for teachers or other adults in the group subject to accepted student/teacher ratios. However, if the group is made up predominantly of adults, all members of the party will be included when calculating the charges.