Weymouth - station, facilities, improvements, events and incidents - merged posts

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

Looks like the 1740 relief bus out of Weymouth will be well used tonight due to...

12:51 Great Malvern to Weymouth due 17:10 will be terminated at Dorchester West.
It will no longer call at Upwey and Weymouth.
It has been previously delayed, has been further delayed at Maiden Newton and is now 21 minutes late.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Leading to...

17:30 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads due 20:09 will be started from Dorchester West.
It will no longer call at Weymouth and Upwey.
This is due to a fault on this train.

Anyone know what the fault is?

[IndustryInsider]

Anyone know what the fault is?

One engine out on 158955.

[grahame]

Anyone know what the fault is?

One engine out on 158955.

And that would explain why they REALLY don't want it to go down the hill into Weymouth!

[Timmer]

And that would explain why they REALLY don't want it to go down the hill into Weymouth!

Indeed, it probably wouldn’t get back up.

[TonyK]

Today, Journey Check says those two additional services are cancelled - due to overcrowding!

Additional 10:30 Yeovil Pen Mill to Weymouth due 11:24 will be cancelled.
This is due to overcrowding.

Additional 17:40 Weymouth to Westbury due 19:17 will be cancelled.
This is due to overcrowding. 

Coming across to me as George Orwell's doublespeak!

Or, as I heard an exasperated shopkeeper say once "I'm fed up of telling folk there's no demand for it!".

[grahame]

Looking at outcomes on Real Time Trains, return train set off from Dorchester West about 5 minutes late which (if information systems had worked effectively) would have allowed the majority of passengers from Weymouth to catch the 17:20 Waterloo train and walk between stations in Dorchester.   It was back on time after Westbury.

[JayMac]

More problems heading to the seaside today. A Cardiff to Weymouth railtour experienced delays on its way to Castle Cary. It missed its slot to Yeovil Pen Mill and was thus further delayed waiting for a Weymouth - Gloucester GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) service.

That railtour delay at Castle Cary also delayed the Waterloo - Corfe Castle SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) service behind it.

[grahame]

Dorset Echo (five months ago - must have missed it then - re-lifed via Facebook)

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/17422500.campaign-for-better-transport-calls-for-weymouth-harbour-tramway-to-be-reopened/

Fresh calls are being made to bring Weymouth's defunct harbour tramway back into use.

The new push for a revival of the quayside line comes from the Campaign for Better Transport which is making a case for an expansion of the railways by reopening or rebuilding old routes.

It says reopening railways has the potential to transform communities – relieving road congestion and pollution and making economically disadvantaged parts of the country more attractive for investment.

The harbour tramway is not included in one of the 33 national reopening schemes which the group says should be prioritised.

However it is among those listed as 'priority 2' projects; those identified in research which are said to be 'feasible but require further development or changed circumstances to assist them in being taken forward'. Changed circumstances could be, for example, housing development proposals which encroach on the route.

There is no mention of how such a scheme for Weymouth can be revived or funded, or whether it could involve a regular quay service linking with the main line near Weymouth station or – as has been explored in the past – a railcar ferrying passengers along the harbour as a tourist attraction.

Article goes on to cover the history of the tramway and has brought lots of comment

[ChrisB]

I'd be interested in seeing an up to date H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) assessment....

[eightf48544]

I'd be interested in seeing an up to date H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) assessment....

Probably no worse than any other street running tramway.

The main problem when the boat train was running was cars parked inside the yellow lines. In places they were some distance from the running rail due to the overhang of the mark 1s on curves. So drivers thought they could park just over the line and got hit by the train! Also the length of the train. So similar problems would arise if it was a steam/diesel heritage operation.

A modern tram would have much less overhang and be shorter. The only problems with a modern tram would be that it is potentially  faster and quieter than a steam train

[infoman]

Station Toilets locked up due to vandalism,and no train/s in the station
One passenger requested if station staff could open one of the toilets and the station staff opened one of the toilets.
Another pasenger requested the same thing,and was told "use the trains toilets" as a train was now in the station.

[grahame]

Station Toilets locked up due to vandalism,and no train/s in the station
One passenger requested if station staff could open one of the toilets and the station staff opened one of the toilets.
Another pasenger requested the same thing,and was told "use the trains toilets" as a train was now in the station.

Weymouth Station and the area around it certainly didn't feel welcoming when I was there last Sunday.  Greeted by a revenue protection blockade, then (when clear of the platform) finding that the toilets were all locked.  A general uncared-for look - things like near-empty literature racks, and various laminated signs instructing passengers how to behave. Later in the day, a lack of enough seating for those people who had come back from the town in good time for the return train home, but which wasn't yet available to them and a heavy police presence. 

This "Welcome to Weymouth" message has extended beyond the station. Anyone anxious for a loo will find that the businesses on Queen Street just outside have "toilets for customer use only" signs, and the big advert on the Weyline Taxi office that faces you as you head out from the station offer you good fares to HMP Verne as its headline.  It does talk about return fares, at least!

First thoughts is "the vandals have won".  But I have no proof of that; not been in the loos, don't know how big a battle has been fought or whether they're a convenient excuse to provide only minimal facilities ... and that minimal facilities are a good way to keep non-travellers who are considered undesirable away from the station.

[Timmer]

Weymouth station is a poor first greeting to visitors to the town. Toilets have been closed ‘due to vandalism’ for a few years now. The lack of literature in the racks is a more recent thing but adds to the ‘we don’t care’ look and feel of this station.

SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) need to make more effort with this station but with the keys to the franchise probably due to be handed back soon to dft, I doubt they care.

I think Weymouth station just about sums up how much things have slipped on the SW mainline these past few years.

[bobm]

I first met Graham outside the toilets at Weymouth Station (stop it!!) - so it isn't all bad.

Seriously though I do agree it doesn't create a good shop window for the place in the way, say, Brighton Station does.

[johnneyw]

My understanding is that, according to the terms of TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) franchises, the stations need to be handed back/over in the same state or better than they were in on receipt. Working toilets would surely be a part of that but I suppose they could be repaired just prior to handover in order to minimise the risk of repeat repairs. If that is the case,  what then does that say about TOC station maintenance Ts and Cs?