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Project Wareham

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by David R, Jul 31, 2015.

  1. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Dorset Council, in common with just about every local authority in the country, is severely stretched financially. It isn't (yet) at the point of needing to issue a Section 114 notice (what the media tend to call "going bankrupt") but it might have to do so at some point in the next couple of years, especially if the Government call in an education loan it has made to the Council (and every other Education Authority in the country - Dorset isn't unique with that Sword of Damocles over it (*).

    If they are forced into issuing an s.114 notice, they will in effect have to fall back to setting a budget that meets what is called the "Legal Minimum Service Level", i.e. funding only the things they are statutorily required to fund. It is very unlikely that that includes a gate keeper on a pedestrian level crossing in rural Dorset when there are alternative options. So in a fairly short space of time, you may well be in a situation where NR won't allow an unattended crossing, and DC can't legally pay for an attendant.

    If a ramp on the existing footbridge is so problematic, what about a ramp up to the A351 bridge and back down the other side? There could surely be no heritage concern and in terms of gradient and length, the height gain required is somewhat similar, so it would hardly be any worse than the snaking ramps proposed on the existing footbridge.

    (*) It's a bit arcane, but in essence education costs more to fund than councils can afford, so the Government gives an annual loan to cover the shortfall. In effect that shifts council spending into Government borrowing. However, the Government would like to reduce the scale of its borrowing, and one way to do so is to force councils to settle those debts; doing so is likely to push many councils into issuing Section 114 notices. In technical accountancy speak, this is known as "robbing Peter to pay Paul".

    Tom
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2025
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  2. Gladiator 5076

    Gladiator 5076 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I think to the council and residents any ramp, even as a path on the road bridge, is unacceptable.
    But as someone mentioned earlier presumably the new mega council we be saddled with resolving it.
    If the "man in the hut" resolved the ORR enforcement notice issue, presumably taking him away instantly closes the crossing.
    I am not sure why it looks like they either relaid or reballasted one of the sidings last year if you cannot use them with the current set up.
     
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  3. Gladiator 5076

    Gladiator 5076 Resident of Nat Pres

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    The local press continue to stoke the fire front page and page 4 here
    https://www.purbeckgazette.co.uk/issues/

    Love the last line of the Gazette report "No accidents have been reported at the site in 40 years"
    Of course we all know that cuts nothing with the ORR, otherwise we would have non CDL Mk1's on the network.

    Meanwhile the other local paper had this on the front page

    IMG_3368.JPG

    Smiled at the speed reduction idea, guess that would be a man with a flag walking in front, bearing in mind how long even at 25 mph it would take to stop a train.
    But not as much as the suggestion that it would impact punctuality on the Weymouth line, already hardly a beacon for on time services.
     
  4. Daddsie71b

    Daddsie71b Member Friend

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    Thinking laterally, scrap the crossing, install a barrow crossing at the London end of Wareham station. Staff member subsidised by DC could issue tickets , keep toilets open, look after wheelchair passengers and control crossing.
     
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  5. Gladiator 5076

    Gladiator 5076 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I am sure the residents would object to the slope at the platform ends.:Arghh:
     
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  6. Romsey

    Romsey Part of the furniture

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    I suspect the locals would complain about the time it took for trains to cross the footpath crossing if there was a speed limit as well.
    How did the local paper come up with no incidents reported in the last 40 years? Yet they quote misuse of the crossing recorded by Office of Road and Rail. Certainly nothing is listed in the last 20+ years on the RAIB website, but how many "near misses" were recorded by signallers and Control?

    Cheers, Neil
     
  7. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    If I were campaigning, I'd make "no incidents" mean "no injuries", and discount "near misses".
     
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  8. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    It's also quite a logical swerve to go from "no incidents while the crossing was manned" to therefore "no risk if the crossing keeper is removed".

    Tom
     
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  9. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Let's face it, this is a campaign group that are determined to have a specific outcome - and everything else is secondary to that
     
  10. DcB

    DcB Well-Known Member

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    I see in newsfeeds about Wales and New Zealand
    https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2025/0...see-north-wales-level-crossings-replaced.html
    https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/02/21/govt-commits-200m-to-help-remove-auckland-rail-level-crossings/
    The trend is to replace level crossings with bridges and ramps for safety and risk assessments of preventing any near misses and accidents. Especially when rail services might increase.
    This will probably be the line the rail minister will give to the MP next week.
    Another alternative to ramps, and/or gates is to also use a bus, with push chair access, between the two halves of town.
    Whether network rail will look again at improved automation using improved technology and gates (rather than ramps and bridge) on the Wareham foot level crossing we shall see?,
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2025
  11. brennan

    brennan Member

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    It has long been the policy of the ORR that all foot crossings should be done away with. The facts speak for themselves with a list of fatalities over the years. No doubt if one of the residents was run down by a train there would soon be a demand for a bridge. Trains and people do not mix. Even Network Rail don't always keep their trackworkers safe.
     
  12. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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  13. Romsey

    Romsey Part of the furniture

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    A tough one to answer since I retired and my contact in level crossing upgrades has changed job and route.
    The trigger is how many close calls or incidents are reported at an individual crossing. If Gramshaw Road crossing is rarely reported by train crew, it will stay as it is now. If there are reports of misuse a variety of actions will be considered ranging from better signs, through warning lights to replacing the crossing with a footbridge or subway or just closing the crossing. Having walked across there over the years, I think a new structure is unlikely given the narrow access on the south of the line. As it is a public right of way, I think the closure has to go through a legal consultation.
    As an aside, the crossing had a security guard when 60103 operated tours west of Salisbury in recent years.

    Cheers, Neil
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2025
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  14. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

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    At the risk of prolonging the tangent, and from a Quick Look on Google earth it’s still there though I’ve not used it for a decade, there is or was a comedy crossing over the Chiltern Mainline just south of Bicester that isn’t even boarded. You go up one side of the embankment, over a stile, look left and right, walk across the two tracks (stepping over the rails), over another stile and down the other side of the embankment.

    Just south of Bicester on a footpath linking the town with Launton. Two tracks at line speed.
     
  15. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

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    Google Earth helpfully shows the nice lighter coloured sleepers that have been walked on by people who don’t fancy stumbling on ballast!
     
  16. 80104

    80104 Member

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    A fatality at a crossing is a tragic and devastating event. I wonder how many of those at Dorset Council and in Wareham have heard of the tragedy at Elsenham now nearly 20 years ago. Living in that area at the time, seeing its effect on a small community convinced me absolutely that foot crossings should be done away with.
     
  17. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    The catch is that, whether you use Elsenham or AN Other example, people will rationalise why it will never happen to them.
     
  18. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    There is a similar crossing on the Berks & Hants outside Frome, been over it many years ago
     
  19. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

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    PM sending
     
  20. 5944

    5944 Resident of Nat Pres

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