The Gwili Railway thread

Good answer Matt

 

Thank you, glad it's been thought through and isn't just a "we want to go further" project

 

I know the income from Coach parties is a welcome one, but please can I urge you not to fall into the trap of another railway I'm aware of who appear to have largely sold their soul to Coach parties at the expense of walk-up and enthusiast customers?

At this particular railway, there are multiple stories from the past year of people turning up ad-hoc (they were in the area or passing and thought they'd stop for a ride) only to be told there were no walk-up tickets available because the whole set (4 carriages in this case I think) was booked out to a mix of dining customers and coach parties. They appear to be deeply wedded to pre-booked fares only (even if on the day).

Furthermore, on the Saturday of an enthusiast-focussed gala where they were running two sets of carriages, they booked out half the carriages on one of the sets to a coach party, meaning all the punters who were there for the actual gala were squeezed into the other two carriages.

You clearly cannot sustain a railway on Enthusiast income - that's impossible! But please don't be tempted to sell out to coach parties at the expense of everyone else

That said - I wish you all the best with your extension!