Salisbury -> Weymouth

[whole diary]

[grahame]

For a Sunday in August ...

Heart of Wessex Ranger ... 15.00
Westbury -> Weymouth off peak day return 15.60

But the price quoted for Salisbury to Weymouth is 29.80 return.

Any better options for (say) six hours in Weymouth?  (I tried SAL-> WSB^» (Westbury - next trains) and WSB -> WEY, but the first SAL -> WSB is after the morning train for Weymouth has left WSB)

[John R]

In August there's a 0955 from Trowbridge arrives 1230, departs 1700 and arrives back into Trowbridge at 1920.

It's a bit pricier at ^55 standard class or ^85 first class, but you do get decent stock and a chuffing sound from the front.

http://www.railwaytouring.co.uk/index.php/the-weymouth-seaside-express---sundays-170711-to-110911.html     

[dorsetbeachcomber]

Via Yeovil Junction at ^19.65. Taxi extra between Junction and Pen Mill.

[grahame]

Via Yeovil Junction at ^19.65. Taxi extra between Junction and Pen Mill.

Very clever ... if it were for me, I would use that.   Alas - this is for irregular travellers being tempted back to rail.

[Brucey]

If I were doing this journey, I'd probably be tempted to go via Southampton Central, as there is a wider choice of times.

[grahame]

With the context of the question / questioner, I've rolled these answers into:

The railway line from Salisbury to Westbury doesn't open until 10 O'clock on a Sunday morning, so we can't suggest any sort of connecting service into the Swindon to Weymouth train that First Great Western are running.  You can, however, use the South West Trains service via Southampton for a day in Weymouth, leaving Salsibury at 08:20, 09:08 or 10:13, and getting to Weymouth at 10:35, 11:35 or 12:35.  Sample Return trains from Weymouth are at 17:48, 17:56 and 18:48.  Prices via Southampton are considerably higher - the adult fare is 29.80 (as opposed to the 15.60 fare from Swindon to Weymouth).

It is possible on a SATURDAY to travel from Salisbury to Weymouth, changing at Westbury, for 21.90 (That's offpeak day returns from Salisbury to Warminster at 6.30, and Warminster to Weymouth at 15.60; you can buy all the tickets at Salisbury, and don't need to get off and on at Warminster).  The Saturday train at 08:34 connects to Weymouth at 10:57, returning at 17:28 from Weymouth with the connection getting back to Salisbury at 20:32.

Finally, I'm advised that it's possible to do the trip for 19.65, with a train from Salisbury to Yeovil Junction, then a taxi (on Sunday) or connecting bus (other days of the week) to Yeovil Pen Mill to pick up the First Great Western train.  The taxi or bus fare is NOT included in the price of this ticket, and it seem peverse to suggest to people who are trying a service out that they should use a taxi to travel between 2 railway stations on opposite sides of an intermediat town.   Very clever piece of routing by the person who came up with this answer, though!

Thanks!

[eightf48544]

Now if we had a proper Network then maybe there's a case for a Pen Mill - Junc shuttle.

Yeovil is diffinitely a town that sugffered from  the competitive way our railways were built with at one time three diffrent stations.

[The Grecian]

There's a few examples around the south-west like that - Dorchester South and West is another one where it'd make more sense to have had one station, although any joint station now would be on the way out of town. Yeovil Junction was built as it was as the LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway) builders wanted a high speed route and (I believe) due to the hills it was easier to take the line south of Yeovil.

It could be worse though - the Western Region had plans to close Yeovil Junction in the 1960s due to its location and send all Yeovil passengers to Sherborne instead. This was not popular so it was rescinded. The original Beeching Report also suggested closing all stations between Castle Cary and Weymouth but retaining the line. Quite how it was expected to remain even vaguely economic by closing stations at Yeovil and Dorchester I'm not sure.