North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Just been looking at the NYMR web-site. Where does it inform the public that Pickering station is shut for half term services and the reason why? To my mind this information should be in large letters on the first page.

 

It does give the reason in the text here.
February Half-Term Fun with NER Autocar | North Yorkshire Moors Railway - NYMR

 

Would people not look at the website to see if the line was operating and what time the trains were?
Travel on the National Network you do not find a line is shut until you try to book or just turn up planning to buy a ticket.

 

Yes, but it is only a small note. The fact that Pickering is shut should be advertised in big letters.

 

You are arguing against yourself there.

 

From past experience, plenty don't look. And plenty of passengers on heritage railways don't use the national network.

 

Why? The service on offer is advertised, and for anyone seeking a Pickering option the explanation is there.

 

As usual Jamessquared sums up the options pretty accurately. The question that ensues is whether, following the members' decision to go to Whitby, Option 2 is a viable retrenchment? All the indications are that it would not be.
60044 is correct that the NYMR has to generate additional income (such as the management he derides enabling Gift Aid on fares). He's also right that grants alone are not the solution ( something previously acknowledged). The suggestion that more Pickering-Goathland (or Grosmont) services is the answer assumes that the demamd is there at a level that will generate a surplus on the extra costs involved. Maybe 60044 has access to data that isn't available to management? (Incidentalluy I'm assumimg that the reference to chasing additional income is shorthand for profit otherewise the additional activity would make us busy fools). My personal view is that additional profitable activities are more likely to be higher margin up market catering services and premium experinces such as footplate rides.

 

Not really you could not go online in advance and book a ticket from Pickering and if you just turned up then any day could be a non running day if you have not checked.

 

You are still attributing things to me that I haven't actually said! I don't believe I have derided the collection of Gift Aid on fares, I'm all in favoue of it, but I do wonder if the higher fares during last year's experiment had a very detrimental effect; as the fares haven't been reduced this year, but the offer effectively has I have to wonder if customer resistance will continue. I didn't suggest more Pickering-Grosmont (or Pickering-Goathland!) services either - what I do believe in is encouraging more passengers to use those services (i.e. filling the trains) - and that would generate extra profit, if they fill additional empty seats on existing services. As for the added value possibilities, I'm in favour of those too (and I believe that I have advocated them)- or would be if there was any evidence of them actually happening - or even planned!

 

Well I must admit I thought you were advocating more Pickering Grosmont services from your previous posts.
But disregarding that, I will admit it is a very pleasant journey from Pickering to Grosmont, but what I do not see is what are the selling points of the stations?
I have stayed in Pickering a few times and it really is just a small UK town
Levisham is OK if you are a walker I guess, but even if you are staying in the village as we have done a couple of times it is not walkable to the station (well not back anyway)
Newtondale is for walkers and maybe bird watchers I guess
Goathland is a touristy village but the "Heartbeat generation" have probably been there, and apart from some gift shops and some eateries what else is there.
Grosmont what is there for a non enthusiast other than the pub or the cafe? My wife who enjoys a train ride and the line has only ever walked to the shed once, & unlikely to do it again.
So what is the offering that is going to fill up those trains? Heavily discounted tickets, which may encourage some but may also likely just reduce the revenue on the Whitby trains.
Maybe it is totally on railway attractions that should be looked at. Once again this week when I read the Bluebell's weekly email railway attractions were far from at the forefront, and they seem to be doing quite well. They even made a gal and ice skating work together without either one impacting on the other as far as I could see.

 

If I was booking a holiday in the area and wanted to include a trip on the NYMR, I’d be looking for information on operating days to coordinate with my time in the area. There’s no way I would be trying to book a train for every day and time that I’m in the area, just to see if the booking is allowed and therefore the railway is open.

 

You have touched here on quite a few other things I have been advocating, but the overall theme, I feel, is that the NYMR has to develop to become more of an attraction in its own right - and that is true of most heritage railways! You post frequently about the Swanage Railway, for example, but does it not suffer from more or less the same problems? Corfe Castle along the way - and what then?

Pickering is a reasonable destination when the castle and the Beck Isle Museum are included. Levisham is deserted normally - I'd try to find a way of getting the horse-drawn trailer rides restarted as nature-spotting trips, with a suitable guide; and I have advocating partnering with the Beck Isle museum to have working displays of vintage agricultural machinery in the paddock there. Goathland has the roman road, the Mallyan Spout waterfall as well as Heartbeat! Grosmont has the loco sheds and quite a lot of space further back that could be developed into a craft centre based on local industries, and so on. The line itself cries out for an onboard audio commentary featuring the lineside features that most people trundle by without ever noticing! (i'm guilty of that myself - I know of the existence of the timber siding sites, but I've never spotted them in nearly 50 years of travelling on the line, or site of Raindale Mill). There's the story of the narrow gauge railways at New Bridge, Goathland and Grosmont and their purposes, the stone crusher at Goathland, the ironworks at Grosmont and associated iron ore mines, the deviation line at Goathland, as well as the nature one may or may not see as the train passes it. It all offers a richer range of history than most railways and yet so little is made of it, yet exploiting it is actually what the Trust is meant to do, and is something that would be welcomed by Grant-awarding bodies to help do so. It might be countered that guidebooks are sold on trains, but it takes time for the seller to pass through the train, and in addition they are limited in content and require the user to take their eyes away from the view to read them.

None of the above could be brought to happen overnight, they would take a few years to put together, but that's not a bad thing if well planned s future developments could advertised in advance, giving people a reason to visit again. What is really needed is the vision to see the NYMR as "more than just a train ride", as the poster from 30 or so years ago used to advertise - and then have the will to make it happen!

 

That page doesn't actually mention Pickering explicitly. It does say "Please note that major signalling work is being completed this winter at the south-end of our line and we will only be running services between Whitby, Grosmont and Goathland stations", but Goathland to Pickering is rather more than "the south-end"; more like three quarters of the whole line (not counting NR).
For the railcar, it says "You can journey on the unique NER Autocar to and from Grosmont and Goathland stations." I take that to mean between Grosmont and Goathland, starting at either, but it's not the clearest way of saying it.

 

If you introduce an onboard audio commentary, I can guarantee that I will never travel on the line again.

 

Depends on how you do the onboard commentary. Many places use audio guides where each individual has their own unit with headphones that gives them their audio - that would be a good way of making it available for people who want it without intruding on others who just want to enjoy the ride in and of itself. Especially if you make an audio guide an add on extra (like many places do) - although if people judge the tickets themselves to be too expensive they might be less willing to do that!

 

You’re assuming people will look at websites. The other railway I’m involved in is shut until April, as is the case every year. It doesn’t stop people turning up every weekend expecting a train ride. If I was going to visit the NYMR and thought it was running, living south of it, I’d naturally go to Pickering.

 

Clearly that is your preference, audio trails are quite common now, though. But before any such move was made I would expect a customer service carried out to see whether your preference would be shared by others; it it was, I'm sure that there would be ways around the service - quiet coaches or broadcasting the commentary by WiFi or passengers to pick up using their phone earpieces , for example.

 

I probably visit 12-15 days a year to hear decent locos working hard through decent scenery .I have no interest in listening to someone ,probably loving the sound of their own voice ,waffling over a tannoy .

 

Prefer the front coach to be designated a loud coach with no talking allowed…