Swanage main line connection under threat?

Hi all,

I was watching Meridian news last night. An article on the Swanage Railway came up regarding their main line connection. Which is now under threat if funding is not secured by the end of this month.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/dorset/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8513000/8513078.stm

 

Its looking serious http://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/news627.htm

 

Well you couldnt hope for a better transport minister when trying to secure funding from central government, but its a lot of money to find. Fingers crossed.

Chris

 

There is a very strong 'push' to get funding sorted by the end of the month.
This funding is for upgraded signalling to control Worgret Junction, and the proposed regular traffic on/off the branch, to be designed and included in Network Rail's Dorset coast re-signalling arrangements. The cost for including this extra work is (roundly) £3M apparently.
If this is done separately, at a later date, the cost will escalate substantially so NR tell us.
If re-signalling is not included in the 2012's works then the Swanage Railway will be restricted to 'occasional' railtours as now.
Check out the following web sites:
www.facebook.com/swanagewarehamraillink
www.swanagewarehamraillink.wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/swanageraillink

 

can we make it clear that if we dont raise the £3 million, we wont lose our mainline connection as the first couple of posts in this thread made it sound, it just wont be improved

 

You would think the goverment would stump up the cash for this as if they are really serious about green issues this is a good place to start .

 

Why do Swanage need an improved mainline connection? What purpose would they put that to? How would that benefit the railway's business?

 

They need to raise funds to enable a number of signalling improvements to be carried out by Network Rail in 2012 when the London to Weymouth is re-signalled between Poole and Wool.

To carry the work out at Worgret junction the Swanage Rly need to stump up £3M.

If this is not raised the window of opportunity will be lost for some considerable time and the cost could be as much as £10M later.

The re-signalling work will enable regular through trains to Wareham, thus enhancing the service the railway could offer.

 

I see. The plan is to share NR tracks & to use the bay platform at Wareham. There's not enough room for a third line. Presumably NR would not allow tourist services to impact on its core business so there must be spare capacity in the line. I'd worry though about Swanage's timekeeping. It makes a bit more sense if you put it into context.

 

There is no space for a third line without horrendous costs as the embankment is only 2 tracks wide.
The plan is to use NR's Down Line from Worgret Junction Up to Wareham Station [approx 1 mile]. Any regular services will, initially anyway, run into the Down Platform which has existing signalling allowing UP direction trains to either cross over to the Up line or go into sidings (out of South West Trains' services).
Currently the Down Line is only multiple aspect signalled for Down services not bi-directional. Trains from the Swanage Branch to Wareham Station are controlled only with subsidiary signals.
Special arrangements are needed for this type of working and cannot be done on a regular basis. NR personnel are needed at both Worgret Junction Ground Frame and [travelling on the footplate/cab] for the Ground Frame at the NR/Swanage interchange (Motala). Swanage Railway personnel are needed at Motala and the road crossing area near Norden Station as well as conducting the main line train over our tracks.
Extra works onto the basic NR Dorset Coast re-signalling, if additional finance is forthcoming, should allow : 1) fully signalled 'unlimited' moves on/off the Swanage Branch (bi-directional signalling); 2) the Motala catch points to be removed for plain line; and 3) have a direct signalling interchange/interlock between the new NR Signalling Centre and our new Signalbox at Corfe Castle [built and being fitted out].
The eventual re-use of Wareham Up Bay Platform has not been ruled out and I believe NR would like to see us there - I suspect this will not be done at NR's cost, however, so will have to wait the successful outcome of regular services before a decision can be taken. There is enough width alongside the Bay platform, at the moment, to have a run-round loop so it might be quite interesting in the [distant] future.
In the meantime I believe the end of February 'deadline' has been moved so if anyone knows of a friendly millionaire they still have time to contact the Swanage Railway. See earlier post for hyperlinks.

 

Even despite the difficulties and technicalities I can't help but think that at £3m NR is 'gold-plating' this - any detailed costings forthcoming?

Dave

 

No steam for years yet, only dmus for the first years.

 

Exactly - Is Swanage a heritage railway? - or does it have aspirations to become a "commuter" service - that nearly bankrupted and closed the WSR and what is now the South Devon Railway

 

How many movements does the WSR connection currently see? And that can't be accused of not benefitting their core business. I daresay the SR wouldn't have made the appeal if there wasn't some sort of demonstable benefit to the railway.

 

The Swanage Railway was never intended to be just a heritage railway. From day 1 it has always been the plan to reopen it as a 'proper' railway, with regular daily trains for local residents, alongside steam trains for tourists. The resignalling at Worgret juunction is necessary so that these regular services can be established.

At one point there was talk of South West Trains running these services using class 159s. However I think the plan is now for the Swanage Railway to run them using three class 117 units, which Dorset County Council has purhased for the purpose.

 

WSR currently has about 8-10 through trains each way a week - mainly freight and empty coaching stock.

David

 

How far along the WSR do they go?

 

Would NR allow 117 units to run from Worgret junction to Wareham Station with passengers on board or do they come under a different set of rules compared to the CIG’S on the Lymington branch?

 

The 117's were purchased with the knowledge that they would need to be upgraded to include tpws/otmr/gsmr and central door locking as well as complete refurbishment. There was no real plan as to when this would be started, but the units became available at a favourable price and would probably have been scrapped if DCC hadn't purchased them.