THE railway season is about to hit full steam.

Regular services on the Steam Railway start on Saturday (March 12) while the Manx Electric Railway services begin a week on Saturday (March 19) and the Snaefell Mountain Railway starts on Saturday, April 16.

And there are a whole host of special events planned for the coming months.

The Pie in the Sky, Teddy Bears' Picnic and Hop-tu-Naa ghost trains all return this year as well as the TT commuter trains and an extension of the summer night trains to Castletown.

There will also be new events such as A Victorian Extravaganza - a celebration of the Victorian Era in the Island which will take place on July 2 and 3 - and Island At War which will take place on August 20 and 21 and will hark back to the 1940s.

Last month's Valentine's Love Train was the first special event to be run this year.

Community, Culture and Leisure Minister David Cretney MHK said: "Looking at the new railways timetable it is great to see the return of many of last year's popular events, as well as the introduction of some exciting new ones for 2011."