West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Quite - but the question was about the economics of crossings on the national network - at least that is how I interpreted it.

Blue Anchor crossing is one of the jewels of infrastructure on the WSR, hopefully set for a long existence yet.

Tom

 

Something that struck me about the latest edition of platform is the high degree of management churn. Not only at the board level but also at senior positions. The railway needs a new GM, there has been a change in infrastructure and also engineering. While I am sure that all the new and old appointees are and were excellent, this constant change can not really help stability, nor does it convey an impression of stability.

Is this normal? My impression from other lines, especially the premier league lines is that there is a high degree of stability at a board and management level, there is turnover (no one wants to end up like the Politburo in the 1980s) but it tends to be incremental, ie someone retires or moves on and then the next post holder remains in post for a number of years. At the WSR is seems like appointments are measured in weeks rather than years.

I am struggling to work out why the WSR seems to suffer from the churn which other lines do not seem to suffer from.

 

I'm not sure that I understand the logic of that idea :-(

Operation of the crossing is dependant upon the rail traffic, not road traffic. If there are only (say) 10 trains movements a day across the LC then it only operates 10 times a day. Whether you get 10 cars a day or 1000 cars an hours over the LC makes no difference other than to the wear and tear on the road surface.

 

The way in which the crossing operates requires more moves over it than is necessary.

The half and half arrangement of the barriers is not acceptable for how busy the road is.

There is a greater number of pedestrians in the area now.

 

Apparently. as Pete Thornhill mentioned, there is far more road movements occurring in the area than the were some time ago. A supermarket and other developments have taken place.

 

WHY ? Because it's an insecure situation and people like security. It seems the previous GM designate has read the message and taken a sensible decision.

 

It's not quite like that. BA crossing has had a life much like Grandma's broom.
Certainly over the last years all the gates have been replaced. The mechanism requires regular adjustment. Within the last five(?) years the whole road was up and all the gear renewed. Prior to that I remember the down side being completely refurbished. It's a bit of a Forth Bridge project to keep it operating properly. One of the problems it has is that rubbish, road grit, salt etc washes down the road and gets into the works.
Ian C

 

There is also a churn amongst WSR supporters in general - particularly amongst WRSA members. I work with a small group of four ex BR/NR specialists. A straw poll carried out in a bar yesterday evening confirmed that not one of us has donated to or supported the WSR in any way over the last three years? The reasons given being the inadequate senior management at PLC level, the S and D Trust fiasco and the overall disrespect shown towards the line's shareholders and stake holders.

One of our group quoted the phrase "Quo Vadis". He commented that the Biblical answer was "Where I go now - you may follow me later". It turned out that he was referring to events that recently overtook a railway in north Wales.
Jamie Glover.

 

My impression is that the WSR used to have a fairly stable leadership, with Board members and senior managers in post for long periods. This may be linked with sustained progress and growth that the railway appeared to enjoy for some 20 years or so from the mid-1980s onward.
But from around 2010, it was afflicted by two parallel developments. Firstly, feuding and infighting between mutually antagonistic groups and individuals. Secondly, gradually declining passenger numbers and worsening finances.

 

Not necessarily, what if the contract between RTC and the West Somerset included x amount of tours to Minehead in exchange for use of facilities at Bishops Lydeard?

 

Never mind that; I suspect the deal has advantages for both parties, and it’s in both parties’ interests to make it work.

However, it is WSR plc that have sold something that they can’t now provide, so it ill behaves them to complain if their customer changes the plan to suit their customers.

What worries me is the suggestion in a earlier post that RTC are having to chase WSR plc for answers to the problem being caused to RTC by WSR plc not being operational. I hope that this is just a matter of timing and that a viable alternative plan is in place in good time for would be travellers not following this thread to have a good day out despite the enforced change.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Some very interesting reading..........

pdgminutes26may2021.pdf (wsr.org.uk)

 

I'd argue that the operation of the crossing is dependent on risk and nothing more than that. Being able to completely close off the crossing and monitor it allows things to be ALARP which is great in the safety world!

 

3i:- JJP...

"It was confirmed that it would [be explained in more detail at the next AGM] as the Plc would require the confidence to effect change and this would include independent and proper advice. It was felt that if change was necessary, it should be the right change accepted by everyone."

...IF change was necessary ??? This reads to me as though the board is still in denial about the need for any change.

"...accepted by everyone." Oh well, that's it then. This is the WSR, getting something accepted by everyone is a mission impossible. It'll never happen.

I see the same old story being churned out again:- The board don't want change, they don't want to lose their positions of 'power' (in their eyes at least) and they certainly don't want anyone interfering in what they are doing.

 

The bit that intrigued me was a photograph on social media that caused a ten day delay on the crossing. Really? I wonder who or what was in that picture that was serious enough to halt everything.

 

Yeap that sounds about it, power, for the sake of power, the railway could be going to hell in an hand cart, but for some, compromise and talking is a sign of weakness.

 

From the "minutes of a meeting of the PDG held on-line via Zoom software from 09.00 on Wednesday 26 May 2021":
"the new structure would be inappropriate at the current time due to the constraints of keeping the business running whilst recovering from the effects of COVID. The decision had been taken in the best interests of the company."
and
"Steve Williams confirmed that after a first successful bid of £900,000 to the CHRF, a second bid for £400,000 had been rejected as the Railway was now considered a commercial organisation and not a ‘not for profit’ organisation."
Someone's not joining the dots...

 

My thoughts too.

IMHO it could not have been a picture which caused the 10 day delay. Surely it would have been something seriously wrong which the picture merely brought to someone's attention.

And more generally, reading those PDG minutes did absolutely nothing to increase my confidence that things were going well in Somerset. Reading between the lines, I sensed much dissatisfaction with how things were being done.

I hope I'm wrong...