Swanage Railway General Discussion

Sorry Paul but you have this wrong.
Swanrail provides a public transport facility for the Isle of Purbeck. It has been proclaimed over the years that the railways take up to 60,000 car journeys away from Corfe every year due to the park and ride at Norden.
It is also a living museum and theme park, it is all things to all people.

 

And so it was and will continue to do so now that common sense has prevailed. However, the cynic may well say that the railway is now better off as it has a mainline , signalled connection, a proven operating practice for moving passenger trains from and to the national network and two refurbed diesel units passed to run onto the network mostly paid for by the public purse? It has also proved the Wareham service doesn't work without a subsidy thereby putting the matter on the "too difficult" shelf for the foreseeable future.

 

This. Plus no HR has successfully managed to mix heritage services and regular services. SR needs to work out a business model that keeps it going, and not be distracted by providing a service to Wareham. What would have been really useful would have been a station on the mainline at Worgret Junction, so that passengers on SWR could transfer directly to a SR heritage service (as at Smallbrook, Alton and East Grinstead). Use the full length of the branch. Unfortunately there really isnt the space.

 

And not forgetting Eridge for a direct transfer from the national railway system (I daren't call it a main line!) to the Spa Valley Railway.

 

SR website still showing no trains on Saturday 9th of March? Any updates?

Real shame about Wareham.

If the council and locals really do want an service longer term. It might just be easier for SWR to gain 2/3 more class 158/9s (lots more becoming free) to prove a either. Bournemouth/Poole/Wareham to Corfe/Swanage shuttle during the 'summer' with the unit being based at Bournemouth depot.

Simple Depot Bournemouth/Poole to Corfe. Then 2 or 3 shuttle mid day before final Corfe-Depot via Poole/Bournemouth might work

 

The railway is closed to the general public on Saturday 9 March.

Apparently there is a big walking event on in Purbeck and the organisers have private hired the railway for the whole day to operate support trains.

What the local councils and residents may or may not want could be very different to what they would actually (pay to) travel on. Many a transport operator has attempted to gauge demand by asking "would you use such and such a service" and then been very disappointed at the actual passenger carryings.

The two Wareham trials have now been conducted and as far as I can gather from the limited information released they have been operationally successful but revenue has failed to meet the operating costs. Time to draw a line under this and work on making SR a financially sustainable operation.

 

Same as last year when the railway ran 3 trains (from memory) to bring the participants back from Corfe to Swanage.
https://purbeck.events/events/jurassic-express-trail-run-2024/

 

Possibly not quite as I dont think last years event took place on a day when the railway would normally be operating.

 

Just forget it. All the time the Government chooses to prioritise £2 bus fares and free bus travel for OAPs, any rail line that runs parallel to a more frequent bus route is dead in the water from a public travel point of view. The numbers aren't going to magically stack up for SWR if they don't currently stack up for the SR.

@brennan is right. The Swanage Railway is better off now by virtue of what that project has delivered (a functional mainline connection, experience of interfacing with the mainline, a restored DMU), much of it done at the public expense. Count your blessings that the trials delivered those very real benefits - but just forget any notion of competing with a frequent parallel bus route.

Tom

 

That's before asking why DfT, who control train operator spending, would choose to prioritise spending on SWR adopting a branch like Swanage, when the national network has pulled back from such seasonal traffic. If there are spare DMUs, there will be much more politically sensitive locations that need the boost.

 

And regardless of the fact as others have said why would it be viable for SWR (ie the DFT) what about the hidden costs? Crew training, extra spares holding, engineering staff training or a mammoth amount of ECS moves to and from Salisbury.

 

Free bus travel for those receiving the state pension has been in place since the mid 2000s.

What would be interesting to try and evaluate is what difference the £2 capped bus fare has had compared with the previously higher fare. In other words how many passengers who were prepared to pay the SRC fare £20 in preference to the C£9 More Bus day return fare are now swayed by the £4 Morebus Day Return Fare (2 X £2 singles) and purchase that instead.

 

It may be that it reduces car travel, but this is a side effect of running the line NOT its focus, and I think that’s right.

 

You’d probably need to take parking into account to have a clearer picture, but I don’t suppose it is all that many either way. I just don’t believe that the Swanage has ever been seen by more than a handful of people as public transport and so the “shall I go by bus or train” decision point is actually made by a tiny fraction of people visiting the area. The question they are really answering is “do I fancy a ride on the train?” The answer “yes” might well be swayed a little by the thought that a visit to the beach can then be made without fighting the traffic and paying for parking, but these are “bonuses “ on top of the basic motivation.

 

The reason for asking the question is that the Chairman has stated that the £2 fare has had an adverse effect on passenger carryings. I certainly would be interested to know just how much of an effect compared with other factors. Many people mention the cost of living crisis and yet overseas travel (holidays) from the uk is back or very nearly back to pre covid levels.

 

Certainly what we do as a family, not an easy train ride to the area but quite convenient to park at Norden, have a nice train ŕide, into Swanage for lunch and see the sea then back to Norden.

 

and that is precisely the raison detre of Swanage Railway as a tourist attraction heritage railway. Park at Norden (convenient and takes traffic off the A351) choose whether to visit Corfe Castle and / or Swanage, enjoy the ride and views, enjoy the day, return and drive home.

 

I don’t think that’s the reason it exists, though it is the Swanage’s unique selling point. Not, though to be confused with it existing to provide transport between those various points. Rather that it is hard to run out of things to do for the day which helps the family market. It is not cheap though (to do the castle the beach and the railway)

 

Yes it was Feb 4, but I would argue not running a steam service for the public on Saturday is no different to not running one on the three days of the diesel gala, i.e. replaced by something more profitable.
Nothing says the railway has to run a public on Saturday.

Would be difficult to establish I guess but if you are holidaying with a family in Swanage say, a lot cheaper to go to Corfe on the bus if you are worried about expenditure and not sold especially on the train ride. When Wareham was operating I would think could have had quite an adverse effect.

 

Totally agree. We spend up to eight weeks in the Canaries to escape the horrendous Dorset weather Jan/Feb. With the cost of living crisis, we have cut out going to the pub, meals out, shows etc. We cut our cloth accordingly and prioritise I'm sure other do likewise