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Project Wareham

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by David R, Jul 31, 2015.

  1. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

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    Molehills being thrown up at an alarming rate! Now these "passengers" that some of you are most concerned about. They do not have connecting trains to catch. They are riding a "heritage " train which goes to Norden Gates, They are tourists so even in the 21st century they are surely not bound by time constraints. If their return train from Corfe to Swanage is a few minutes late is that a matter of major concern when modern airports with all their attendant technology cannot handle schedules or more importantly the masses of people seeking to travel. The trains,of some varietal, are going to run from Wareham to Swanagr. Lets get behind this attempt to run a through service for the first time in half a century and capitalise on the vision of the founders and the hard work of those who got us back to Worgret. Politically,the time has never been more expedient!
     
  2. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

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    Is it the British Disease? Rail Networks across Europe seem to be swinging back into increasing services post covid. And if the present fracas in Eastern Europe continues they might well be very happy with investments made in their Railways. There was a very good article in the Guardian a day or so ago. Why do a relative handful from select schools(45k a year) and Universities have so much control over UK Government and Industry? Remember the great "kitchen sink" social dramas from the Fifties and Sixties when working people had their aspirations put on paper and celluloid by authors like John Braine/
     
  3. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    It's a matter of significant concern because of the interaction between Swanage and other workings on the main line, and the costs that may arise as a result. If the Swanage train arrives late at Worgret, or delays other operators' trains, it will cost the Swanage hard money. That's not about the tourists who use the Swanage train, but about all the others who use SWR and other operators whose trains might be impacted by that delay.
    It's a definite problem, but one with policy, and that raging about how easy it should be to do misses the point about the policy world that actually exists.

    And the time is now far from expedient, as the political will is not there to fix the problem.
     
  4. Woof Mk2

    Woof Mk2 Member

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    No its closed....
    Better station cafés at Sherborne and Crewkerne by far
     
  5. 4950

    4950 New Member

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    Closed? Quick, start a petition!
     
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  6. DcB

    DcB Well-Known Member

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    There was a problem when the Windsor steam charter arrived too early at Waterloo causing SWR problems
    https://www.itv.com/news/2019-06-11...ur-delays-for-commuters-by-arriving-too-early
    But as a comment says there were other things delaying SWR that week.

    The interchange at Wareham gives more time for any slippage, the chance of the reconditioned DMU failing is low, so although there is some chance of delay will be a low probability, as shown by the 2017 trial.
     
  7. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Agreed - and I welcome the mitigation. But my comment was in response to the assumption that the only concern would be to the travellers on the DMU.
     
  8. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

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    Thank you for the info. Just one of the great things travelling with a railpass. One can hop off and enjoy places likre this.
    What a great line the LSWR route is! and some of you were no doubt luck enough to see the ACE thundering through!
     
  9. DcB

    DcB Well-Known Member

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    Looking at the peak "purple" 2017 timetable with 2 steam trains and a diesel hauled train (running to Wareham) it fitted in, Those on the diesel hauled train from Wareham arriving at Corfe or Norden had the option of staying on the to Swanage, or waiting on the platform for a few minutes (maybe to visit the museums) for the next steam train to Swanage.
    https://web.archive.org/web/2017082...k/userfiles/downloads/2017-summer-leaflet.pdf
    I presume the intention, (if all goes well with SR and SWR this summer) is to use a similar timetable in 2023, but use the SR run DMU, rather than the WCR/LU rented diesel hauled train?
    The down side of running the DMU to Swanage rather than a Corfe shuttle in peak weeks is the possibility of delay getting to Wareham. But if it worked 2017 should be OK 2023?.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2022
  10. 80104

    80104 Member

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    As has been mentioned previously - not sure where - one of the discussions which took place as part of the 2017 review - was that having three traction units serving the section of line between Norden and Swanage oversupplied the number of departures / seats available relative to demand especially in the middle of the day. It was suggested that the Wareham service should operate to / from Corfe Castle only to provide a better service to / from Wareham and in doing so better test demand which is the purpose of the trial. There are of course some trade offs in this approach but it would certainly help test Wareham demand.
     
  11. 61624

    61624 Part of the furniture

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    Is it really necessary to test Wareham demand? Provide the service and they will come!:D Did I mention "molehills"?
     
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  12. Jupiter

    Jupiter New Member

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    I think forcing the Wareham service to terminate at Corfe is bizarre. You're not going to get a lot of people parking in Wareham, so a large proportion will be coming by train. Wait and change at Wareham, wait and change at Corfe a little while later? It's a non-starter in my opinion.
     
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  13. jamesd

    jamesd Member

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    It all comes back to what problem is trying to be solved? What was the business case based on? If it was alleviating traffic to Swanage then the service needs to run to Swanage as changing twice as stated above isn’t palatable to most. If the problem is traffic to Corfe then a Corfe service will suffice.

    As an aside, I travelled on one of the 2017 trains to Wareham, purely for the traction - 33 and 37. Most people seemed to be there for the same reason. Were it a DMU, I suspect a lot of us wouldn’t have bothered.
     
  14. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    33+4TC (or 2×4TC ... I'm not fussy!) in full PP is of interest to me. 37s? Indifferent tbh .... though I'll concede the green ones can look jolly nice! Proof, were it needed, that our lines have the potential to attract more than just one flavour of gricer. For me, the wonderfully panoramic qualities of the 1st gen DMMUs are a selling point in themselves. It does have to be said I vastly prefer those with the low density layout!

    It's a damned shame there's zero hope of running the service with No.53 sandwiched between a brace of Maunsell PP sets. Ho-hum ..... can't have it all, eh? :(
     
  15. 80104

    80104 Member

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    I thought that testing demand was the purpose of the trial and will be how DC and the other partners will judge the service. It cant be to test the DMUs or Class 33 because that can be done on the existing SRT SRC track formation and stations between Norden and Swanage.

    Alleviating road traffic between Swanage and the Bakers Arms (and all points between) seems to me to be an impossible task unless the service runs daily, year round, to a high frequency, hours of operation between say 07:00 and at least 19:00 and very attractive fares. Even then judging by the current road traffic, the existing GSC Bus services between Bmth and Swanage and Poole and Swanage do not seem to have made much of an impact.

    I am not even sure that there has been a business case put forward in other than the broadest of terms.
     
  16. 61624

    61624 Part of the furniture

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    Clearly, your sarcasm detector needs repair!
     
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  17. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    It’s just a molehill! ;)
     
  18. oliversbest

    oliversbest Member

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    Should be running a MoleHiller Charter !. Class 33 with plows 2 x Bulleid coaches 2 x Maunsell coaches and the Observation Car. Swanage=Worgret-Swanage. champers included. Sell it out!!
     
  19. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Are you underwriting it?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  20. Copper-capped

    Copper-capped Part of the furniture

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    Do snow plows remove mine fields as well as molehills?
     

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