West Somerset Railway General Discussion

I'm delighted at the feedback, and genuinely regard the financial performance reported as good news. However, the problem that exercise mine and I suspect other minds is not that of "conservatism" vs "gung hoism", but the difficulty in interpreting the figures that do emerge in real cash terms. In the release you quote, we see an increase in fares income of £35k linked to a profitability swing of £105k - suggesting much more going on under the surface than is immediately obvious.

Similarly, and casting minds back to 2020 and before, we've seen year end results subject to significant swings not because of underlying performance but because of accounting adjustments - of which the liability for 53808 is just the most prominent. As profitability of any except perhaps the smallest business depends heavily on the treatment of fixed costs, I'm not convinced that running at a loss in the special circumstances of 2020 was necessarily a bad thing in business terms - depending on the effect on cashflow. In the context of a business in which underlying business performance has been clouded by accounting treatments, I trust you will pardon me for a certain scepticism about the assertions about loss making - especially given the evidence you cite of over performance against forecasts.

 

Am I reading this right.

Profit of £2,524 (better than expectations).

but of that profit includes the income of £25,995 from the Seaward Way Crossing work (effectively a one off payment). So without the Seaward Way Crossing work the line would have operated at a loss? (And of course, if Seaward Way had not been messed up by the PLC board then fare income would of course have been higher).

Fare income of £80,301 sounds good but what was the fare income of June 2019? As a point of comparison the Ffestiniog made 85% of its June 2019 income in June 2021.

A profit of £2524 in June is good, but what were the profit/loss figures from Feb 2020-May 2021?

It is worrying that on the shoulder of the peak season they were budgeting a loss. That does not inspire confidence in the financial viability of the company.

 

The quote says that the work has been particularly important. That does suggest that it has been completed.

 

It should be expected that there would be good loadings at present, after all it is the main holiday season.
I assume that the bank will be watching carefully. Anyway they are soldiering on and it would appear that the volunteers are making folk welcome.
They seem to have sidelined would be troublemakers.

 

Would that be boiler work?

 

Or perhaps carriage electrics?

 

Due handicap at present I am typing with one hand only - and its not the best hand!

 

Sorry, I hope you know it was only gentle teasing and we weren't intending to be rude or disrespectful!

 

B3tter than my usual at5mpts with noth hands

 

+1

 

Maybe you need a 'hands free' option ?

 

If you want the Hans free option, try the Brexit thread

 

Is that linked to the Dutch Electrician's Guild, whose motto is "Many Hans make lights work"

 

I know a number of people who use dragon voice recognition software and swear by it (rather than at it).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_NaturallySpeaking

Can someone tell me if my maths are wrong and if my numbers are out of whack. Because I am looking at this and I think I must have made a mistake somewhere.

Fare income for June = 80,301
30 days in June = 2676.21 per day

Now give or take singles, pairs, people going for the luxury option and the various permutations and combinations. 2676.21 = 42.8 family tickets per day @62.50

I think family tickets give you the most number of people for the least amount of money so assuming that, it would mean about 171 people travelling on average per day.

3 trains per day = 57 people per train.

Are those good passenger numbers?

 

I suspect this is probably where you've gone wrong, I don't think the WSR operated every day in June. Even in August they're not operating Mondays and Fridays.

 

IIRC June was a two train service on about 20 days, possibly fewer - but that is from memory.

 

Setting aside the comments by @flying scotsman123 about the basis for the average, I note observations on here of less than full trains, and the comment in the WSR's statement about "some" trains being full. That suggests that loadings are a bit variable, with some trains very full and others not.

Or, judging by many conversations on here, precisely as has been the case for years.

 

In the last "normal" year of 2019, the WSR timetable showed 4 or 5 full-line return workings on most days from April to October, rising to 7 return workings on some days in August. In June 2021, it was running only 2 return trips (BL to WT & BA) on selected days. So even if trains were well patronised, the passenger numbers are unlikely to have exceeded 50% of the 2019 numbers. However, only a single train-set & engine in steam was needed to operate the 2 return services, so there will have been a significant cost saving from the 2 trains/ engines (or 2 trains/ engines + DMU) needed in 2019.