The Mid-Norfolk Railway Preservation Trust is authorised by the Department for Transport to operate the railway in two statutory instruments, The Mid-Norfolk Railway Order 1997 and The Mid-Norfolk Railway Order 2001. The orders detail the length of track and level crossings over which the railway is permitted to operate trains (subject to safety inspections etc.) and refer to both the Norwich and Brandon Railway Act 1845 and the Norfolk Railway Extensions, Dereham, Wells and Blakeney Branch Act 1846. Planning consent for the restoration and operation of the remaining section to County School, which does not involve crossing any public rights of way but is to include the retention of a permissive footpath, was awarded in 1992.