West Somerset Railway General Discussion

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/direct-bus-link-taunton-west-10363921

333 passengers using the bus to get to BL in 3 months. Fewer than 4 a day, and that includes both steam and diesel galas. Anyone still think a rail service costing more and taking longer would be a good use of money?

 

The report says 4 per day roughly are picked up from the bus stop near the railway. However, there hasn’t been a daily WSR service over that period has there? Also, it would be interesting to know what the distribution of riders is within each day that the railway did operate. We know that people very much dislike modal changes, so train to train is “ok” but train to bus, much less so, and train, bus, train far less attractive. So, whilst I don’t think that a public service over the WSR is viable or necessary, this evidence is neither supportive nor counter to that view.

Whether WSR services, that is to say heritage services, could benefit from a cross platform exchange with the mainline (which these buses are a closer proxy for) is a different question, but even here I am not sure we learn much from the bus service for the reasons already outlined. Honestly though I doubt that it would. Families are the main market, they arrive by car.

 

Direct bus link from West Somerset Railway to be scrapped | Somerset County Gazette

This is very sad news. I used the Taunton to BL bus a month ago, as did quite a few others. I noticed that most people were using their senior citizens bus pass.
None of those passenger journeys would have been recorded, as it's basically a hop on, hop off system. I await comment from the WSR itself. <BJ>

 

Are you sure about those journeys not being recorded ? Whenever I've used a bus lately, all tickets and passes have been recorded, even if no ticket has needed to be issued.

There is a separate question, not for this thread, about the unintended consequences of those bus passes for the viability of bus services.

 

And that's the thing - the connections are some of the best around, being level and adjacent to the platforms both ends, yet it's still not attractive enough to tempt people away from their cars. The report said only 333 people joined near BL station over a three month period that included two, multi-day, very well attended galas. If enthusiasts, who are far more tolerant of mixed mode transport, can't be bothered to use it, then it's unlikely the general public will.

 

I thought all journeys were recorded - not least because on a subsidised service, the bus company will have to report back on usage to claim the subsidy.

In any case - for those travelling free, do you really think it is likely they would willingly swap to a (much more expensive) rail journey? So if a bus journey, which is practically being given away, hardly attracts any passengers, how many passengers do you think a rail journey will attract?

Tom

 

AFAIK Senior bus passes are recorded. Whenever I use mine I have to scan it. The bus operator doesn't carry such people free of charge; they receive payment for it. I'm not sure who pays, though. Local Travel Concession Authority, I believe?

 

Recorded yes, but not at Bishops Lydeard. I arrived on the bus from Taunton where the bus pass would have been recorded. On the return I boarded elsewhere.
I agree that if I had returned to Taunton from BL, the journey would have been recorded at that point. <BJ>

 

Understood - though the report is clear that it is only measuring those picked up. I'd suggest that the law of averages would imply that the margin of error wouldn't be that great and that, with only 4/day joining at BL in the period, even only picking up 1/2 of the demand wouldn't change the fundamentals.

 

Well obviously very few are using this service, and by inspection we would infer that was likely going to be the case. All I was really observing was that it doesn’t tell us a great deal about how many would use a cross platform exchange with the WSR if such a thing were to exist. It suggests that this would not be attractive, but it isn’t conclusive because of the extreme resistance to double modal changes. I wouldn’t argue that if the WSR ran into Taunton it would pick up any traffic worth having versus the bus service for people wanting transport, but it might make a day out to the steam railway more attractive to some. I don’t for a second think this would be enough to justify the expense or anything like it just to be clear. It’s indicative rather than directly applicable evidence.

 

To be fair, it's less than 5 minutes' walk from the nearest bus stop in the village to the railway, even if the loop to the station gets removed from the service. There's a safe underpass crossing from the bus stop to the station under the A358. Speaking as an occasional user, and not just to access the WSR, speeding up the number 28 bus is no bad thing.

 

You have to ask, how many of those 333 people would have been put off by having to make a five minute walk from BL village. Nowadays, you have to be pretty determined to embark on a multi-modal journey by public transport and an extra five minute walk is not likely to make much difference. Some of the intersections on the Tube take as long to walk, plus there are stairs.

 

The 333 passengers boarding is the total of three stops over three month period April thru June 2025 and includes patronage from Quantock Brewery and Westridge Way bus stops. The BL station bus stop was closed by WSR during the 'Scotsman visit so recorded no passengers over that period. Pass holders and GWR through ticket holders are all recorded within that 333 figure.

Most peeps regularly using the 28 from BL station are savvy enough to realise a short walk under the A358 underpass is prudent. I have heard station staff advising passengers to do just that.

There is considerable confusion among bus drivers as to whether the WSR is operating on any particular day, whether the driveway to the station is available to them and whether that particular service is booked to call. Vehicle movements and tractors loading and unloading on the trading estate often delay buses. Sometimes they can't physically reverse and turn by the WSR public car park entrance due to parked vehicles. The new Electroliner buses taking over the 28/28A route next month are significantly longer than the existing fleet and that adds to the risk of getting stuck. The sum total of those uncertainties is the recipe for an unreliable service. The 28 often runs through BL full and standing, particularly on Butlins changover days, and will not divert to make the call if there is no room to pick up.

My advice is take the short walk through the underpass every time. It makes for a much reduced statistic for WSR passenger patronage but you are so much more likely to catch the bus!

Incidentally the 28 is a fully commercial service and receives no subsidy. Up to six vehicles operate the route at any one time Monday to Saturday and three on Sunday. To earn revenue and keep to time they need to keep moving. The operator has made his decision taking all these factors into account and has pledged to review that decision in time for Easter 2026.

At the WSR plc AGM on 27th September I will be asking the company to do all they reasonably can to ensure timetabled buses can have unfettered access to the BL station bus stop without the need to reverse shunt. I am confident that such an assurance would considerably boost Somerset Bus Partnership's campaign for buses to return to BL station.

Barrie, Somerset Bus Partnership management team member

 

Hi @Barrie - in your position as a management team member of the Somerset bus partnership, would you have any influence in seeking improvements to the bus stop on Station Road, if the route to the station itself is being cut? The one used for buses heading to Taunton is great - shelter, pavements, lay-by and easy link to the subway. But the one opposite for Minehead-bound buses is quite poor; no shelter, no pavement, and no safe crossing point towards the subway. Addressing this could help to assuage concerns about the curtailment of the route into the station.

 

We can certainly raise it. Somerset Council hold Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funds, some of which are ringfenced for bus stop infrastructure upgrades. I am familiar with these bus stops and use them regularly but fear there may not be necessary available space on the westbound side of Station Road to provide those enhancements.

My suggestion would be to take the westbound stop out of use, have buses running both directions enter BL from the roundabout and serve the Station Road eastbound stop first. The Minehead-bound bus would then turn right into Taunton Road at the Lethbridge Arms and then left into Hither Mead to regain its existing route.

I would further suggest renaming the stop Bishops Lydeard, Station Road (for WSR). I consider the existing Lethbridge name misleading as the stop is now nearer the A358 than the pub. I think the stop used to be outside the pub before the bus layby was built?

What do we reckon to that idea?

Barrie

 

Sounds like a good plan @Barrie. You’d need some clear signage at the eastbound stop to show it serves both directions. Plus some signage to guide pedestrians to the station. Good idea on the re-naming.

 

I'm sure that clear suitable information could be provided at the bus stop shelter by WSR and/or SBP.

A further benefit of this plan is that anyone taking the bus to WSR from Taunton would arrive at the Station Road stop a tad sooner, as the grand tour of BL village would no longer feature en route.