Swanage - Wareham / Purbeck Community Rail Partnership October'11 minutes

"The 'ordinary' passengers using a future non-heritage service to travel out of Swanage are unlikely to be users of the current operation "

I think that is probably true. BUT how many of the current users would switch to the 'ordinary' service? Could be a fair few given that quite a lot of the current passengers use the park and ride, and that for some at least a ride up the line is a ride up the line.....

"would, I imagine, be outnumbered a lot of the time by incoming passengers using the national network to access The Swanage Railway. Win-win situation all round. "

Maybe. I suspect though that the incoming passengers will largely be travelling not to visit the Swanage Railway but to visit the beach etc. This is my concern, that having travelled down the branch on an "ordinary" service there isn't much reason for them to go back over it behind a steam engine (paying again for the privilage a fare possibly equivalent to their super saver from London) unless they are specifically travelling to Swanage to do that...in other words the enthusiast market, which as we know is only a small portion of the market that any heritage railway serves.

 

I've just read an interesting statistic that the Liskeard to Looe line now carries over 100,000 passengers a year and is operationally profitable (ie it pays its running costs). THis is a line that could easily have been closed under Beeching and has a lot in common with the Swanage railway. It has no real heritage appeal except that the route is rural and scenic. It also leaves people with a short walk to another platform at an inconvenient junction with no direct through trains to Plymouth, and yet it thrives! But it also highlights that to tap in to the commuter, shopper and sightseer market "normal" trains have to be frequent and should be able to travel at a reasonable speed especially early morning and around 5-6pm for work commuting. Could this kind of service fit around the heritage operation monday to friday? At weekends I think it can, but there will be times during week long galas, santa specials etc when it cannot. The problem for the Swanage and any preserved railway wanting to operate as a piece of the national network is that a regular service cannot just be withdrawn or suspended because there is a steam gala running. IMHO that is the scenario to crack. If Swanage train planners can show how the railway's infrastructure could diagram one or two 158s to weave between a steam service running at slower speed AND how TOC ticketing could share platforms with Swanage's own internal ticketing then this problem can be cracked, But I think something has to give. Steam galas offer an intensive service. I cannot see a 158 overtaking heritage trains at station loops because these are usually occupied. I said right at the start the one solution I can see is removal of the restrictions of the LRO so that trains can operate at speeds the market demands thus a steam service can serve the other market too when it has to. And I have also said in other threads that the chance for steam engines to run at higher speeds will attract more enthusiasts too. If these markets can't be made to coexist at peak times they cannot coexist at all.

 

All excellent operational points...still leaves the question of markets and custom I was posing.

Just to take one aspect of the operational points though, I don't see it being possible to mix trains operating under different regimes. Either the railway operates at less than 25mph or it doesn't. You can't have some trains running to one safety case and others to another running at the same time. I suspect that the ORR would take the view that if any trains are operating at in excess of 25mph then all trains, signalling, staff competency etc should reflect that, which means that some of the excemptions enjoyed by the LRO won't apply. That said it seems logical that if the speed is kept to say 45mph, the excemptions that apply to the NYMR operation might apply to the Services operated over the Swanage railway. BUT, the intensity of service is greater and that might mean that SR signalling would have to be upgraded to include at least AWS? The SR might have to have mainline registered stock (or equivalent inspections/maintenance) in order to run on their own line. Also whilst the higher speed might be attractive to enthusiasts, it would make for a very short duration ride for the remaining "heritage" service customers.

Liskeard to Looe is a very stripped out railway - basically a long siding - which is why it is able to be viable as a transport service. That is what the Swanage would have to look like to achieve the same, and what it could end up looking like unless it is able to be really quite clever.

 

I was making the point that if the "heritage" operation were to wither, then the branch would need to be stripped to essentials to maintain the transport function like the Liskeard-Looe.

 

The Swanage is currently carrying around 200,000 pssengers a year on its heritage operations. If it manges a fraction of that in commuter traffic I for one will be astonished, so until there is a proven high level of demand I think the Swanage Railway has to be very, very careful about letting the tail wag the dog!

 

The Swanage Railway was, at least in part, founded to reinstate a local rail service - with the heritage operation as a complementary operation. This impetus goes back to the 1970s, though has from time to time got lost. However, it is part of the local population's perception of the project and has helped gain the railway public backing where it would not otherwise have existed.

This is also the justification for DCCs lease of the trackbed to the SR - if SR were to try and frustrate plans for a local service the heritage operation would be in immediate danger. DCCs prime concern, from reading minutes and attending local meetings, is to releive the congestion on local roads by encouraging road traffic away from the Wareham-Sandford corridor. I don't know, but as this is largely a summer and peak hour problem their objectives would still be significantly met by a service that incorporated an element of seasonality.

Timetabling was done in the 1990s to prove that a 2-train steam service every 40 minutes could happily integrate with a 2-hourly daytime service from the main-line, increased morning and evening if necessary. Assuming request stops at most intermediate points, and taking into account the reality of infrastructure related speed restrictions, upgrading to 40mph would not bring a significant time saving over 25mph; certainly still being end-to-end quicker than the bus service that goes 'around the houses' a little in Purbeck. One concern would be the need for all passengers to change at Wareham, but the nearest practical turnback is Platform 4 at Bournemouth; and this would increase the cycle time of the rolling stock to far to be practical for a single set on a 2 hour sycle.

In terms of fares, the use of a Residents Card brings existing SR fares within the range of competing with local bus fares - indeed a number of locals use it already on the existing level of service. Careful calculation of the ATOC add-on from Wareham could be create a practical tiered system.

 

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I would suggest that the preferred "turn back" would be Wareham. Train arrives ex Swanage and then into the down sidings and await its next working. Plenty of room in the down sidings but no run round facilities yet. Wouldnt take much to install.

 

If overhauled heritage DMU's look likely for Wareham services, it may be worth asking the owners of the two ex-Lymington CIG's if the CDL equipment from them may be available for recovery - i believe the most recent Chiltern Bubblecar restoration used the same method so presumably its still acceptable to the authorities.

Chris

 

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Sorry, my point was that the largest commercial problem would be the need for 'local' passengers to change at Wareham. The greatest local flow is Purbeck to Poole - however, turnback at Poole would require blocking the main platform which is already well-used. This leaves Platform 4 at Bournemouth, where Waterloo to Weymouth traffic can continue with little inconvenience while a Swanage service terminates - it was resignalled with an additional crossover for just such an eventuality during the Bournemouth resignalling. However, the most realistic turnback is indeed Wareham - though I feel this will harm the viabiltiy of the service in terms of local traffic.

 

This is the rub! In other words it meets the needs of the local population as it exists rather than various railway enthusiasts wished it existed. Another case of "gricers in la la land" perhaps.

The Swanage Railway does a super job in providing a park and ride service to relieve problems in Corfe and Swanage during the busy season. This is aided immeasurably by Swanage station being situated in a very convenient position.

In complete contrast, Wareham station is situated very inconveniently. I said in a post regarding a similar but perhaps more badly thought out project elsewhere that only those who have never had to struggle uphill for a considerable distance with a shopping basket will discount the added convenience of the motor bus. It is less a matter of the quickest mode of travel than the least physically exhausting.

Since I became involved in the other thread, news came through that the Weardale Railway is ceasing its "public transport" service. Where such services are concerned, when will heritage railways get real and ignore the romantic glow?

 

Paul the point you made about Wareham traffic is quite correct and well made, but would that be the only traffic flow? Of course not. Buses do have an undisputed advantage on short journeys but railways have a clear advantage on journeys (say) to and from Poole or even beyond to Bournemouth. The success of any rail reopening would not be in stealing short haul bus passengers from Swanage or Corfe to Wareham but on longer journeys where the quality of Wareham station as an interchange is more important. Everryone would benefit if workers in Hamworthy Poole or Bournemouth were persuaded to leave their cars and use a train service. One of the biggest beneficiaries would be the bus service to Wareham!

 

There is the old parcels dock at Bournemouth that could fit a 2 car ( poss even a 3 car) DMU. This would keep the up and down lines clear.

 

I don't see commuting or shopping trips to Wareham as being a major source of traffic. The Norden P & R works but getting to Norden is still a pain at busy times as you still have to do battle with the A351 and, IMHO, it would make much more sense for the P & R to run from Wareham.

 

At which point the quoted 200,000 figure for the current heritage service (a lot of which is people travelling to the beach, I suspect for whom the train ride is an added, but fairly marginal additional excitement) will suddenly transfer to the new "ordinary service", which may well be really very successful. I can see a successful "transport function" being possible (albeit I think it would still require a stripped out railway and subsidising to be able to stand alone) or a continued successful heritage operation. The problem is blending the two both commercially and operationally.

 

It's easy for us to speculate on this and that. I'm sure that the people from the Swanage Railway involved in discussions about reinstating the Wareham service are aware of all the factors discussed on this thread, and the bottom line is, they as much as anyone else, want to find a formula which will allow a regular Swanage-Wareham service to be operable alongside the heritage trains.

One category of potential users who haven't been mentioned are holidaymakers who would be looking to travel to and from the conveniently-situated staions at Swanage and Corfe to and from London or places much further afield. For these people, perhaps with a 3-5 hour train journey, the limitations of any 25mph restrictionon parts of the branch of the relative inconvenience of Wareham station in relation to the town itself won't be a major factor. it is a pity that the Summer Saturday cross country trains to Weymouth were axed - in fact I seem to remember that up to 1983 there was a daily Leeds-Weymouth service in the summer period. Swanage to Brum and places further north with one change of train would be quite appealing for some holidaymakers, particularly older people, although for a family with children travelling to the seaside by train for a family holiday is a lot more expensive now (even allowing for inflation) compared with 1983.