Swanage Railway - return of passenger services and reopening to Wareham

[whole diary]

[bradshaw]

Once again today, 27th of July

06:35 London Waterloo to Corfe Castle Swanage R due 11:35 will be terminated at Salisbury.
It will no longer call at Tisbury, Gillingham Dorset, Templecombe, Sherborne, Yeovil Junction, Yeovil Pen Mill, Maiden Newton, Dorchester West, Upwey, Weymouth, Dorchester South, Moreton Dorset, Wool, Wareham and Corfe Castle Swanage R.
This is due to a member of traincrew being unavailable.
   

Surely it is these services that should be protected if they wish to build up trade.

[Timmer]

Which just goes to show you cannot rely on it for a day out. Better to end the service it’s not reliable. Sad and I feel for Swanage Railway.

[bradshaw]

According to Swanage Railway Twitter they are awaiting clarification and are hoping it will run Weymouth to Corfe and back

https://twitter.com/swanrailway/status/1155005374505861120?s=21

[bradshaw]

Now confirmed by Swanage Railway as operating from Weymouth to Corfe and back

https://twitter.com/swanrailway/status/1155012173095215104?s=21

Ran as 5Z11 from Salisbury via Romsey to Weymouth and then 1Z11 to Corfe Castle

[CyclingSid]

Must admit looking at SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) Journeycheck on Saturday  mornings recently I have been surprised to see the Corfe service more than once. Is there not enough in it for SWR?

Having said that I have just been up Reading - Waterloo this morning. Short form 5 car on an Ascot day, not intolerable to Ascot. But by the time we got to Twickenham the crowding was approaching mid-week morning peak levels. Staff said that SWR are not keeping up with maintenance, and some sets going out of contract shortly.

[grahame]

Which just goes to show you cannot rely on it for a day out. Better to end the service it’s not reliable. Sad and I feel for Swanage Railway.

A rather sad review from Gareth David at https://railwayworld.net/2019/07/28/swr-cancels-its-seaside-special-again/ ... it starts ...

Just three weeks after my previous failed attempt to sample the summer Saturday SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) service to Weymouth and Corfe Castle (6 July), it is profoundly disappointing to have suffered a similar experience again on Saturday (27 July)

[SandTEngineer]

Well, some better news: https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/news/detail/award-for-signalling-scheme-enabling-trains-to-run-on-the-national-railway-network-to-wareham

[bradshaw]

ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) proposes to give the Swanage Railway an operating licence.

The passenger licence will authorise the applicant to be the operator of trains being used on a network for the purpose of carrying passengers by railway in Great Britain, subject to all legal requirements being fulfilled by the applicant.   

It calls for comments by the end of the month.

https://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/42577/swanage-railway-company-limited-passenger-licence.pdf

[RichT54]

WAREHAM TRIAL TRAIN SERVICE POSTPONED TO SUMMER 2023

Dedicated Swanage Railway volunteers have postponed their planned trial diesel train service to the main line at Wareham until the summer of 2023 because of challenging trading conditions and economic uncertainty.

It had been hoped to operate the 90-selected day trial public service – using restored 1950s British Railways heritage diesel multiple units upgraded for main line running – during the summer of 2022.

Delays in completing the Swanage Railway’s submission to the Government’s Office of Rail and Road (ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)) to obtain permission to run the trains, the option of bringing in a contractor to operate the trains being uneconomic and main line passenger numbers having not returned to pre-Covid levels – have prompted the postponement decision.

Swanage Railway chairman Gavin Johns said: “We can only run trains to Wareham when the conditions are commercially viable and it’s important that we operate the trial as economically as possible and when commercial conditions are at their best.

“We will continue with our main line train operating licence application to the Office of Rail and Road as quickly as practicable.

"The Swanage Railway's business is still recovering from Covid, which badly affected customer and staff confidence, against a background of challenging trading conditions and economic uncertainty.

“Trading conditions during 2022 are very unpredictable because they are being heavily affected by significant prices rises being borne by our customers and our business – such as the increased cost of coal – as well as the tragedy unfolding in the Ukraine.

“Concentrating on providing viable heritage train services between Norden, Corfe Castle, Harman’s Cross and Swanage remains the Swanage Railway’s first priority.

“The current challenging economic reality has affected our plans for operating a trial 90-selected day trial train service from Swanage and Corfe Castle to the main line at Wareham during 2022 and we are working to deliver that service during 2023, trading and economic conditions permitting.

“The business case does not currently exist to place external contracts to provide the trial train service to Wareham but we remain fully committed to securing all necessary consents and commencing services with a view to operating to Wareham during 2023. This is the most pragmatic way to proceed,” added Mr Johns who is a volunteer Swanage Railway signalman.

A 60-selected day trial train service from Swanage and Corfe Castle to Wareham operated during the summer of 2017 using heritage diesel locomotives and carriages hired in as well as the contracting of a main line train company to operate the trains.

Gavin Johns explained: “The extensive work required to put in an application to the Office for Road and Rail (ORR) for operating trains to Wareham has been very detailed and has taken longer than expected – it has probably been the most challenging project in the 45-year history of the Swanage Railway.

“Trading conditions and economic uncertainties permitting, we plan to run a 90-selected day trial train service to the main line Wareham during 2023.

“I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard on the Wareham project which has been a Swanage Railway ambition since British Rail closed the branch line to Corfe Castle and Swanage in January, 1972,” he added.

The two 1950s former British Railways heritage diesel multiple unit trains that the Swanage Railway has refurbished and upgraded, for running on to the main line at Wareham, are a three-carriage Class 117 and a one-carriage Class 121 ‘Bubble Car’.

https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/news/view/wareham-trial-train-service-postponed-to-summer-2023

[Timmer]

Disappointing but totally understandable.

[JayMac]

I wonder whether we'll see any SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) through services this Summer.

My prediction is, "DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) says no."

[Timmer]

I wonder whether we'll see any SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) through services this Summer.

My prediction is, "DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) says no."

And your prediction would be a correct one as the Saturday Waterloo-Weymouth via Salisbury service that provided the unit that ran to Corfe Castle was on the list of services withdrawn along with Bristol to Waterloo. Apologies I don’t have a link to this.

[TonyK]

Disappointing but totally understandable.

I agree. A cautious but measured approach seems much more likely to succeed than gambling.

[paul7575]

I wonder whether we'll see any SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) through services this Summer.

My prediction is, "DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) says no."

And your prediction would be a correct one as the Saturday Waterloo-Weymouth via Salisbury service that provided the unit that ran to Corfe Castle was on the list of services withdrawn along with Bristol to Waterloo. Apologies I don’t have a link to this.

There’s a paragraph about the summer Saturday “rail tour” in the SWR Dec 2022 consultation:

“SWR has previously trialled a Special Saturday Service from Salisbury to Weymouth via Yeovil, providing one train in each direction on Saturdays during the summer peak season.
Due to the disproportionate cost of running these services that could not be sustained by the revenue they generated, there are no plans to reintroduce this special service in the future.”
From this:
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables/~/media/527b019ecca54d708c71c6a9600f0bca.ashx

[Timmer]

There’s a paragraph about the summer Saturday “rail tour” in the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) Dec 2022 consultation:

“SWR has previously trialled a Special Saturday Service from Salisbury to Weymouth via Yeovil, providing one train in each direction on Saturdays during the summer peak season.
Due to the disproportionate cost of running these services that could not be sustained by the revenue they generated, there are no plans to reintroduce this special service in the future.”
From this:
https://www.southwesternrailway.com/plan-my-journey/timetables/~/media/527b019ecca54d708c71c6a9600f0bca.ashx

Yes, that’s where I saw it. Thanks Paul.