Project Wareham

Good publicity on the BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-65155226
The driver-conductor story may have helped. Hopefully also on other media?.

 

Was on the first train to Swanage and the 14.23 service from Swanage. Both packed
The 15.19 from Wareham light loaded but thats expected. First day looking very healthy with the steam train busy (having said that Easter normaly you would have two steam instead of 1)

After Easter the Wareham service can be use just the 117 which should reduce fuel costs ect ect

 

Standing at Wareham today, its such a shame the DMU cant hide in the sidings when the two 28 past services go past. This would drastically improve connections.

Even the sidings would not be needed. Potentially the down 28 past SWR service (semi fast) could cross into platform 1 (would have to be delayed a minute of two for the up 28) while the Swanage DMU could sit in platform 2 between for example - 20 past until 35 past

 

You have far more confidence in SWR time keeping than I do, and who pays for those 1 or 2 delay minutes?

 

The first Wareham train arriving at Swanage. (Missed anything else in the morning as when the surgery rescheduled my blood test two weeks ago due to two of the vampire's being off sick and they said "how about 11:20 on April 4", I said OK without thinking about the date.
Also a shot of the 15:19 from Wareham on the common and a poor attempt at something "arty" at Swanage.

 

Sunny and bright in Swanage today with loads of people milling about including quite a few families. Also noticed at least one day trip tourist coach parked up!! on Gilbert Road rather than being in Victoria Avenue Car Park.

 

Delay minutes are not a 'shrug your shoulders' matter. They have the potential to kill the Swanage Railway.
Pat

 

Congratulations to all involved (and I'm sure there are many!) in everything leading up to today's services. Having followed this thread for a long time, and talked about the prospect with volunteers on the railway almost 20 years ago, what a sight it is to see a Swanage Railway item of rolling stock pulling out of Wareham on a timetabled service train.

I can't wait to travel on it myself next month!

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using Tapatalk

 

Delay attribution only applies after three minutes delay.

Cheers, Neil

 

On the second Swanage - Wareham service I noted several families with young children getting off at Wareham and then leaving the station going to ??
Also, I noticed in my carriage at least three passengers, with wheeled cases, joining at Corfe and leaving the train at Wareham looking as if they might be crossing to the UP platform. We had only a 5 minute turn round at Wareham on that occasion so wasn't around to see where they went. Somewhat intriguing nonetheless.
I understand the on-train TTIs are generally accepting only cash as on several parts of the route they have no reception for their card readers! Norden is a classic 'patchy' area and has been a known problem on some networks.

 

The 1305 Wareham to Swanage approaching Worgret Junction Tuesday 4th April 2023.

 

Whilst I fully appreciate that the "cash only" solution is forced by circumstance on the railway, this is something that is going to have to be resolved by one means or another as the number of people who carry cash is dwindling rapidly as the number of organisations who now dont accept cash is driving change (pun not intended). Would you have £25 in cash on you to pay for a return ticket from Wareham to Swanage? Whilst Swanage Booking Office itself accepts cash it is worth noting that the cash point machine has been removed from the old post office site (opposite the station) and from the former Lloyds bank branch on the high street.

 

Yes agreed but it doesn’t seem to have put off the crowd who have just alighted at Corfe from the 1119 from Wareham. If you have no cash presumably pay at Corfe

 

If they don't run off without paying, loss of income. When we were on the railway last summer the TTI's machine packed up and passengers were told to pay at Corfe, we observed several from our carriage just walk out the station!

 

The Co-op cash machine is just as close

 

Anyone on the 2nd day service?
Interesting to see they dropped the bubble car only on the 2nd day of trail, during Easter !?!?!

 

Why so many on here with direct or thinly veiled criticism of the Swanage Railway? Surely a 3 coach DMU will have far more capacity than one might reasonably expect to transfer from SWR services. No point in wasting fuel and asset life with an unnecessary Bubble Car in the formation.

I and I hope many others wish them every success with this new service which seems to be sensibly planned around the possible even if this isn't quite what diehard enthusiasts might have hoped for.

 

Exactly. I believe it was always intended for the three car 117 to be the main unit. The bubble car is there to add extra capacity when required (as was obviously needed on the first day of service), and to stand in for one of the 117 power cars in the event of failure.

 

Just out of interest due to all the discussion about the time of the first arrival, and I accept it is early in the season but when I walked my Dad's portion of our Tesco delivery up to him this morning at 10:45 there were only 35 cars in the main beach car park which had risen to 49 by about 11:05. The 10:40 from Norden did look well loaded though as I made a point of looking as it arrived as I left his flat in Gilbert Road.

 

I'm not an expert on DMU operations in years gone bye and had thought that the Swanage unit was rather alien to that part of the world. But going back to when I lived in Dorset for a short while in the early '70 I find that I have pictures of these units in Dorset, not a million miles from Swanage, as they were regular on the Bristol - Weymouth service back then. Here is one at Maiden Newton, with a Class 121 bubblecar (W55027) waiting in the Bridport bay platform, taken on 30/10/72.

I wonder if one ever worked through to Swanage prior to closure.

Peter