Project Wareham

Yes agreed however it is absolutely essential that SRC is crystal clear in its communications to avoid misunderstandings with passengers. There are so many differences between "mainline fares and ticketing" and "SRC fares and ticketing".

 

Would anyone know if the class 117/121 will have to do some test runs into Wareham before 4th for driver training for WCR staff ect ect?

These will be 3 long weeks until the big day

Also, the news report highlighted 4 car during peak and 3 car (just the 117) during less busy time. Would anyone have any idea if (by how much) the 117 is more fuel efficient than the class 33/37 combo in 2017. Less accesses charge should also reduce the cost little, even though I wouldn't know by how much.

 

It's worth bearing in mind that many people (me included) only travelled on the 2017 trial trains because of the motive power on offer. I wouldn't do it for a DMU. I assume I'm in the minority but if it's a significant minority then it could have an impact on comparative numbers.

 

I do rather wonder on what the basis the trial is going to be assessed?

There are a number of measures it could be assessed on: operationally (punctuality and reliability) financially (gross revenue, profit/ loss) customer response (passenger numbers, feedback).

I seriously wonder just what can be learned from the trial that wasnt learned from the 2017 trial? I had thought that the purpose of having two trial periods was to allow for some variation of offering to test customer response? However from what I can gather to date the 2023 trial appears to be very similar to the 2017 offering. IMHO the 2017 trial results were probably "inflated" by a combination of "its new/ novelty factor "(a regular passenger service hadn't operated on the branch line since 1972), "enthusiast interest" (in general) "enthusiast interest" (specific type of traction) and thus I fear that the 2023 results will be disappointing. If they are, and I do hope they are not, then how can the influencing factors be determined? Is it the timetable, is it the fares, is it the traction or is it the general economic situation.

To me it is somewhat disappointing that SRC are not operating on their own licence as surely part of the trial was to test SRCs ability to deliver the service?

 

Whatever other considerations motivate some customers to turn up during this year's trial, one consideration will be the simple possibility of travelling by train from home (wherever that may be) to Swanage and back as a day trip, and the risk that (depending on the outcome) that possibility may not arise again. That will inherently mean some amount of custom this year that will not be repeated regularly, or even at all.

I did the trip once in 2017, taking the opportunity while it existed. I had never been on the Swanage branch before. I will probably be one of those going some time this year. If it does happen again in subsequent years I may go again some time, but will not be in any particular hurry to do so.

 

There will definitely be some eliminate of novelty factor that will inflate this years passenger numbers.

What would be useful (and I think it was done in 2017 too) would be a survey for passengers to provide their feedback after travelling on the service. This would help give an indication of potential future passenger numbers, and changes to the service that might attract greater numbers of passengers in future.

 

Drafting and undertaking a suitable survey will be quite a challenge.

My concern would be that the responses would be unlikely to add much insight to what could be reasonably assumed already:

Operate on more days (7 days a week), operate more services (especially in the am down to get to Swanage between 10:30 and 11:00), offer cheaper fares, operate steam traction.

I dont think there has ever been a public transport survey that has ever said anything else (apart from the bit about steam traction).

What would be interesting to see if there is a way of identifying the one off visitors caused by the novelty appeal but having said that I wonder how many visitors to Swanage are those who come once a year in any case.

 

I suspect the majority of passengers will use it for novelty value rather than a general alternative to other forms of travel (car, bus etc). Unless there are other interventions to discourage alternative forms of travel such as increased parking charges in Swanage, or positive interventions to encourage rail travel such as easy parking at Wareham I can't see this trial, based on the current cost and timetable, being a success against any measure.

 

Swanage parking charges have already been announced up from £8 to £9 for all day in the summer. Wareham will only ever have the 69 SWR spaces that seem to be about half used since Covid on my few visits. Not sure what Dorset Council may have increased the Norden charge to if it has a planned increase.
Some form of discounted national fare would help, not everyone can or wants to book in advance on a specific service. But of course as soon as you do that then passengers not using the link are likely to find out and reduce revenue on the mainline for stations probably west of Bournemouth or Poole.

 

The issue with surveys these days is overload. Virtually every parcel delivery generates a how did our courier do. My father has recently started paying for care and has had various NHS support due to health issues. Barely a week goes by now without one of them, Council some NHS location, wanting a survey filled out. Even renewing your insurance often seems to generate one.
If people are like me they just start to give up filling the things in. I suspect to get into the detail you need most would be put off or just not bother.

 

All SRC would need to know would be the home post code of the passenger (or if staying in the area on holiday) where they boarded the Wareham service and how they got to the station (walk, bike, car, taxi, bus or mainline train), number of passengers and composition ie adults child seniors. No point asking subjective questions as the range of responses would be too great to derive any meaningful data from. A volunteer with an Ipad could board the train at the start point and get as many responses as possible.

 

Sadly I agree with you. Look at the comments sections on all the media outlets that have covered the story. The comments are almost unanimously along the lines of ‘£25, what a rip off! I’ll keep getting the bus’.

I fully understand why the prices are set at £25. However at that level it will always remain a novelty / tourist service. Not the local
amenity service the founders of the Swanage Railway envisaged.

 

But isn't that what the vast majority of heritage railway passengers who use it as a means to get somewhere do? Certainly on the NYMR it would be much cheaper for those going to Whitby for the day to go by car or bus but it doesn't deter them.

 

But that is steam normally and that's the novelty

 

Well yes but potential customers may be choosing between accessing the railway at Wareham using a DMU (for at least some of the journey) and paying a higher fare or accessing the railway at Norden using steam and paying a lower fare. Yes there is the cost of car parking at Norden as well. If you get into the realms of taking a mainline train to Wareham (to connect to SRC) then it becomes a far more complicated choice.

I cant help feel that the Wareham link will not generate sufficient additional patronage and additional revenue to justify / outweigh the additional cost SRC will be incurring.

Given how much time, effort and money has been spent on this project it seems such a shame that steam could not be the traction (for all the reasons outlined in detail) as that to me would be the game changer.

 

My hope is that, by the end of this summer, we have a view of what is - or is not - viable and long term recommendations and decisions can be made.

 

Agreed however I would have liked to have seen a different timetable for this trial given the learnings from the 2017 trial and arguably from the SWT/R Saturday service to Corfe Castle.

I would like to have seen tested a timetable which (a) included an earlier arrival in Swanage say between 10:30 and 11:00 (b) operated exclusively between Wareham and Corfe Castle so as to give 6 round trip per day including the aforementioned earlier service (c) interchange at Corfe Castle to allow passengers travelling to / from Swanage using steam traction.

More connections at Wareham to mainline services surely makes the offering more appealing to a wider audience, an earlier arrival in Swanage giving 2 pre noon arrivals would be more appealing, promoting the interchange to steam traction at Corfe Castle is what the core market wants.

Yes I acknowledge that the it needs to be kept within a single duty day - and I do not know what can / can not be achieved within those constraints - but it seems to me that maximising the appeal is all about the connectivity at Wareham* and passengers being able to use steam wherever possible.

*Surely it is that factor which can tap into national and local govts desire to give more people the option of public transport rather than travelling by car and thus more likely to win external funding.

 

Yes but the Swanage Railway has long held aspirations, stemming from the original founders, to reopen the line with diesel trains to Wareham as a normal public service, alongside steam trains for tourists.

I think these ticket prices show that isn’t a realistic objective any more.

 

A normal public service would at least to me mean:

1) 7 days a week
2) year round
3) services from at least 0700 to 1900 to enable passengers to get to / from work within say an area stretching from Weymouth in the West to Christchurch in the East. ( I acknowledge this doesnt cater for shift workers). Arguably it should be 05:30 ish (to allow connection with the 06:27 to London Waterloo) until C22:00 at night.
4) competitive fares (with journeys of a similar length on the existing mainline) season tickets / railcards
5) delay repay

This level of service is extremely unlikely to be provided by a volunteer led heritage railway.

 

Yes that is exactly my point. An original aspiration from the founders of the line,
but something that in modern times is becoming increasingly unrealistic.