Swanage Railway General Discussion

Round here, Chiltern Railways quite often don't run dedicated replacement buses in case of disruption, but agree ticket acceptance with a parallel bus service (which just so happens to be operated by the same parent company). They seem to consider this as adequately fulfilling their legal responsibilities.

Presumably therefore, rather than hiring their own bus, there's nothing to stop the Swanage Railway from bunging MoreBus some cash to take any intending passengers on the parallel No 40, as they'll still reach their intended destination and with a 40min journey time it's probably faster than the train!

 

I don’t quite gel with this. Apart from Sunday, the 40 service between Wareham and Swanage is hourly most of the day and I’d suggest is entirely suitable as a replacement.

I do agree that in general, bus provision in Dorset particularly around the many outlying villages is pretty lightweight, just that Wareham to Swanage and back is quite robustly covered.

 

As said earlier the DMUs have multiple engines and configurations, so are resilient.
There is also the 33 locomotive which can do a "Thunderbird" rescue as a last resort.

MoreBus (Go-ahead group) and First Wessex Buses (same company as SWR) are stake holders in the Purbeck Rail Partnership, so there will probably some arrangement with ticket holders with the SR in case of major problems.

 

The 40 is hourly in the Summer. The point was about hiring dedicated rail replacement buses rather than putting passengers on the "service" bus.

The challenges of using the 40 are: (1) capacity - it can be quite busy with the usual bus passenger load* (2) it doesnt serve Herston Halt or Harmans Cross (3) the stop at Norden is not particularly well located - railway staff may be needed to escort passengers to and from the stop.

*The same factors that encourage a day out on the railway are the same that encourage a day out at the seaside by bus.

Taxis are often suggested as a solution but the availability of taxis in both Swanage and Wareham is quite limited.

 

There will also be more journeys past Norden sidings during the steam gala and Wareham trial (if it starts).
So a trackside tidy up, and somehow getting the carriage to Corfe for dismantling would be good.
The Mogul loco's boiler will have to be sent away if funds are raised for an overhaul, is there any place to safely store it till then, guess the Herston workshop is currently full and the loco shed is protecting 30120?

 

A chance to have your say. The Swanage Railway are asking for customer input to shape its services and customer experience. If you have 5 minutes to spare, please use the link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgKM3iAaqS1sRsQFYLObTxDMnztG4wRpJ8TXrfyu8iDRxFlg/viewform

 

During the summer the 30 and 35 run between Wareham and Swanage via Harmans Cross and are quicker than the 40.

 

Would not disagree with any of your points, but would add that if it was an "in service" failure the chances of finding sufficient anything must be very difficult. There is usually a bus or two hanging around the Swanage depot, I would be very surprised if anyone with a PSV licence would be hanging around & hence able to drive it.
A known issue MAY allow some planning to obtain bus and driver for upcoming days, but in the summer the drivers who normally runs the school buses I assume man things like the seasonal 30 and 35 services. That of course assumes our cash strapped council, by which I mean Dorset (Swanage according to a mailshot from an independent Councillor this week is awash with cash reserves), is able to fund them again. If they do run it would provide back up to the 40 and or taxis in times of urgency.

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I have seen a copy of that newsletter and it states "The return of an incredibly successful carnival, the majority of the great festivals taking place, wonderful weather and problems with foreign holidays have all combined to bring record number of visitors to Swanage resulting in a bumper year for car parking and beach hut rentals." That does rather seem somewhat at odds with the passenger numbers on Swanage Railway in 2022 160,000?? well down on the peak of 200,000+ in the period 2014-2018 approx.

Bus companies have been struggling to recruit and retain sufficient drivers post covid but the situation has eased somewhat. Cost pressures mean that standby driver provision has been reduced to a minimum if not to zero in many companies.

 

Is that an offer to organise ?

 

Not sure if this an RRB or if the driver had not got around to changing the destination to Bournemouth Railway Station, April 12 2017.

 

Thats a bit unusual because the Open Tops (whether partial or convertible but open) do not normally go on the 40 route because the route isnt cleared for overhanging trees which may cause problems for the obvious reason. The destination display is linked to the ticket machine so as soon as the ticket machine is turned live for a particular departure it automatically changes the display. I wonder what happened on that day for this bus to be displaying RRB?

 

Yes it was at the 50 stop rather than the 40, but I had been down the town so did not know if there was an issue with the railway or not.

 

The summer Breezer services are commercially operated and receive no subsidy from Dorset Council. Operating from the end of May until almost the end of September, they operate in addition to school services operated by Morebus.

 

Yes but I couldnt fathom why there would be a rail replacement on the 50 route - given it doesnt duplicate a rail route.

 

May help with passenger numbers in a small way this year.

https://www.swanage.news/purbeck-day-trips-back-on-itinerary-for-cruise-ship-tourists/

 

I took it that if was it was for the railway then it is right outside the gate from the platform. Seems as good as anywhere as unlike London no permanent RRB bus stops down this way of course.

 

Could it be something as simple as an ticket machine malfunction, that makes the display indicate an incorrect destination ?

 

Good to see some rain down here today as a friend sent me a picture of a small lineside fire on the common near the Corfe up distant signal yesterday.
Not sure I can ever remember being at an HR where it was dry enough for a fire in February. Hopefully some decent rain will appear near to gala time.