Swanage to Wareham from 13th June announced

[221129]

The Chinnor & Princes Risborough charges around £10 for a round trip and you can't even alight from the train, far less take a break in your journey, so I fail to see why this fare is "extortionate"

Given the bus is about half the price and about 15 mins quicker for a start.

 

[Mainline421]

Would you be able to link to it please? Or is it easily found?

https://youtu.be/eCjQEKKk_xM?t=1m13s You can also hear Phil Sayer saying Swanage at 0:11, impressive that was recorded before it was too late.

 

[XDM]

I hope the passenger figures prove me wrong, but the high fare & the 25mph creep from Wareham to Swanage is so uncompetitive even when compared with the traffic delayed bus that I wonder if this experiment has been deliberately designed to fail. Some Swanage rail members are huge advocates of a service from the main line, but there are others who are worried it will damage the steam operations & revenue. They seem in ascendancy. I can see both view points. The Great Central can run at 60 mph. I am told the extra cost,once the track is fettled for that speed, is not high on the volunteer railway. The original Swanage plans talked of 45 mph between Wareham & Norden. That seemed sensible. Who killed it? I fear only enthusiasts will use the service. It will not encourage hard pressed families to abandon their car.
Through fares from London are needed,good connections at Wareham & not an insulting 25 mph dribble through Purbeck.

 

[swt_passenger]

https://youtu.be/eCjQEKKk_xM?t=1m13s You can also hear Phil Sayer saying Swanage at 0:11, impressive that was recorded before it was too late.

Thanks for adding that link before I got back to the thread.

There is a standard 'problem announcement' as well, so as not to change from normal standards.

This is the one that plays a while too early, the 'all change please' announcement which AIUI is aimed at passengers on the train. It is presumably triggered by a track circuit, but plays while the train is still in the distance, and this is common at other SWT stations as well. In the normal course I think the 'all change please' stuff should nowadays be left to the on-train systems, or the guard. It is a throwback to when trains had no PA and open windows.

The platform announcement should be aimed at waiting passengers and be something along the lines of 'this is the hh"mm arrival from xxx, do not board this train'. But even then only if the train is departing empty.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

https://youtu.be/eCjQEKKk_xM?t=1m13s You can also hear Phil Sayer saying Swanage at 0:11, impressive that was recorded before it was too late.

Would that have been recorded around the time that a Virgin Voyager travelled down the Swanage Railway?

 

[AnthonyRail]

Is it a rover ticket Wareham to Swanage unlimited travel. How Much is ticket thanks

 

[yorksrob]

I hope the passenger figures prove me wrong, but the high fare & the 25mph creep from Wareham to Swanage is so uncompetitive even when compared with the traffic delayed bus that I wonder if this experiment has been deliberately designed to fail. Some Swanage rail members are huge advocates of a service from the main line, but there are others who are worried it will damage the steam operations & revenue. They seem in ascendancy. I can see both view points. The Great Central can run at 60 mph. I am told the extra cost,once the track is fettled for that speed, is not high on the volunteer railway. The original Swanage plans talked of 45 mph between Wareham & Norden. That seemed sensible. Who killed it? I fear only enthusiasts will use the service. It will not encourage hard pressed families to abandon their car.
Through fares from London are needed,good connections at Wareham & not an insulting 25 mph dribble through Purbeck.

I'm not familiar to the area, although I expect that for incoming visitors, a patch at 25mph would still be preferable to the rigmarole of changing to a bus. Not sure if it would be the same for residents with local knowledge of bus services changing to the train though !

 

[Firesprite]

I'm not familiar to the area, although I expect that for incoming visitors, a patch at 25mph would still be preferable to the rigmarole of changing to a bus. Not sure if it would be the same for residents with local knowledge of bus services changing to the train though !

The bus is timetabled to take 40 minutes each way (Often delayed). Yet has poor connections at Wareham Station. Many locals do use the railway for transport using the local railcard (Which has a high take up). As for upgrading the track to 45 mph between Norden and Worgret Junction, it was looked at and deemed not cost effect as less than 5 minutes would be saved. In this weather the bus is hot and sweaty, full of bus pass holders demanding that the windows be keep shut as their cold.

 

[341o2]

I hope the passenger figures prove me wrong, but the high fare & the 25mph creep from Wareham to Swanage is so uncompetitive even when compared with the traffic delayed bus that I wonder if this experiment has been deliberately designed to fail. Some Swanage rail members are huge advocates of a service from the main line, but there are others who are worried it will damage the steam operations & revenue. They seem in ascendancy. I can see both view points. The Great Central can run at 60 mph. I am told the extra cost,once the track is fettled for that speed, is not high on the volunteer railway. The original Swanage plans talked of 45 mph between Wareham & Norden. That seemed sensible. Who killed it? I fear only enthusiasts will use the service. It will not encourage hard pressed families to abandon their car.
Through fares from London are needed,good connections at Wareham & not an insulting 25 mph dribble through Purbeck.

The GCR can only run private trains at 60mph, other specials at 45mph. Once it was the Main Line Steam Trust but has scaled back its operations. I expect the SR have found that the extra cost of running a 45mph service would not be financially viable

The SR will operate the service in its current format for this year and the next, and will then make further decisions. It should be noted that the service has to be run following the massive financial investment to start it

Rather dissappointed in some of the negative comments here.

Fares - Purbeck residents and SR members receive a 33% discount. Bus fares are currently £8.60 adult day and £22 family. I would expect buses to be cheaper.

Through bookings - proposals to introduce next year

Interchange. Bournemouth excellent.
Poole - oh dear, never again. Have to walk through a shopping arcade which prohibits dogs, so had to work out a way round it
Wareham - do your homework as you could be faced with a long wait
Norden - on the return journey have to cross the A351 and walk back up to the bus stop. No assistance to cross road
Swanage - buses stop right outside the station

 

[yorksrob]

The bus is timetabled to take 40 minutes each way (Often delayed). Yet has poor connections at Wareham Station. Many locals do use the railway for transport using the local railcard (Which has a high take up). As for upgrading the track to 45 mph between Norden and Worgret Junction, it was looked at and deemed not cost effect as less than 5 minutes would be saved. In this weather the bus is hot and sweaty, full of bus pass holders demanding that the windows be keep shut as their cold.

It's good that the locals use the service. I know I certainly would.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Poole - oh dear, never again. Have to walk through a shopping arcade which prohibits dogs, so had to work out a way round it

Which entrance to the Dolphin Centre did you use? The entrance by Primark leads to the bit that's a public footpath so they're not allowed to close that, don't know about dogs in that part. Failing that you could carry on walking past Primark, past the taxi rank into Serpentine Lane which would lead you round to the train station. There's probably not too much in it time wise anyway

 

[swt_passenger]

Would that have been recorded around the time that a Virgin Voyager travelled down the Swanage Railway?

Possibly recorded for the 2013 SWT special service (below), but whatever was the reason at least someone was looking at future possibilities at the time.

Passengers got a taste of things to come yesterday, riding the first service from Bournemouth to Corfe Castle and Swanage since 1972. Regular trains are scheduled to be back running on the reinstated three-mile route by spring 2015,

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/31/swanage-railway-turns-tables-on-beeching

I thought Virgin sent a Voyager ECS for an event, but someone please correct me if that's wrong.

 

[Bill EWS]

I had an enjoyable day visiting the SWanage Railway on the 15th JUne. It was nice to be able to get there all the way by train.

Here is a short clip of video of the last train of the day, the 16.15 Wareham to Swanage. Taken on my return journey back home. 37 518 leading and D56 15 at the rear.

https://youtu.be/GF-8c3bqAN8

 

[341o2]

Which entrance to the Dolphin Centre did you use? The entrance by Primark leads to the bit that's a public footpath so they're not allowed to close that, don't know about dogs in that part. Failing that you could carry on walking past Primark, past the taxi rank into Serpentine Lane which would lead you round to the train station. There's probably not too much in it time wise anyway

I went from the railway station to the bus station to catch a bus to Norden, hence my comments about difficulties in both directions. The signs simply led me to the Dolphin centre which said "dogs not allowed inside", all very well that an alternative route is not much longer but you have to work it out for yourself

 

[emil]

I went from the railway station to the bus station to catch a bus to Norden, hence my comments about difficulties in both directions. The signs simply led me to the Dolphin centre which said "dogs not allowed inside", all very well that an alternative route is not much longer but you have to work it out for yourself

You can get the bus outside the railway station by exiting platform 2 and crossing the road by traffic lights to Travelodge/Asda side. There is a bus stop by the lights. 70 minutes journey time to Swanage or 48 mins to bus stop near Norden when it's not busy or picking up lots of people at Sanford caravan park. Usually summer Saturdays and Sundays late afternoon traffic times can be nearer 2 hours to Poole from Swanage.

 

[duffield]

I went from the railway station to the bus station to catch a bus to Norden, hence my comments about difficulties in both directions. The signs simply led me to the Dolphin centre which said "dogs not allowed inside", all very well that an alternative route is not much longer but you have to work it out for yourself

If it's a public footpath, they have no more right to ban dogs than they do people in loud shirts (i.e. none at all).

 

[AnthonyRail]

are you allowed travel all day wareham to swanage??

 

[Firesprite]

If it's a public footpath, they have no more right to ban dogs than they do people in loud shirts (i.e. none at all).

There is no right of way through the Dolphin centre.

 

[341o2]

There is no right of way through the Dolphin centre.

And if the signs banning dogs was illegal, surely it would have been challenged

 

[James H]

Had a very good trip from Wareham to Corfe Castle today. Lots of passengers - even on a wet Tuesday. Though the steam service didn't have many on board.

However the departures information at Wareham was a bit odd.

Timetable gave departure time as xx:15
CIS on Wareham station showed xx:19 to Swanage
Guard announced departure time as xx:17

Bit of consistency needed here!

 

[XDM]

Two reliable friends travelled between Swanage & Wareham a couple of weekends ago. They report Network Rail has done its usual trick of helping to put passengers off the railway in general & the Swanage line in particular. The signalling is designed to be very flexible between Worgret junction & Wareham with trains off the branch able to get into the reversible up & down lines platforms. Yet NR had not trimmed the vegetation on the down line despite knowing for months that 2.82 metres width stock with opening windows would be using the line. Result, heavy branches scraped against the stock & repeated warnings had to be given to not look out of windows on pain of death. Frightening & off putting for non rail enthusiasts.
Worse, the Swanage trains cannot carry on over the crossing to berth in the sidings on the London side as planned. The flexible point work allowing these moves are out of use & also prevent SWT trains overtaking Swanage trains sitting in the platform. NR have had literally years to put this right. They haven't. The result is signallers are loath to let the Swanage train off the branch until an SWT train is nowhere to be seen. Much sitting at the signal at Worgret junction missing connections ensues. This is all second hand, but the friends are experienced railwaymen so know what they are talking about. What a shame. Let's hope NR do not succeed in derailing the experimental service.

 

[duffield]

However the departures information at Wareham was a bit odd.

Timetable gave departure time as xx:15
CIS on Wareham station showed xx:19 to Swanage
Guard announced departure time as xx:17

Bit of consistency needed here!

Yes, there's definitely a bit of an issue here.
Realtime trains shows all the Wareham to Swanage services yesterday departing two or three minutes earlier than their WTT/GBTT time. Presumably no advertised passenger service should ever depart *before* its GBTT time (with the possible exception of set-down only services)?

 

[Titfield]

Two reliable friends travelled between Swanage & Wareham a couple of weekends ago. They report Network Rail has done its usual trick of helping to put passengers off the railway in general & the Swanage line in particular. The signalling is designed to be very flexible between Worgret junction & Wareham with trains off the branch able to get into the reversible up & down lines platforms. Yet NR had not trimmed the vegetation on the down line despite knowing for months that 2.82 metres width stock with opening windows would be using the line. Result, heavy branches scraped against the stock & repeated warnings had to be given to not look out of windows on pain of death. Frightening & off putting for non rail enthusiasts.
Worse, the Swanage trains cannot carry on over the crossing to berth in the sidings on the London side as planned. The flexible point work allowing these moves are out of use & also prevent SWT trains overtaking Swanage trains sitting in the platform. NR have had literally years to put this right. They haven't. The result is signallers are loath to let the Swanage train off the branch until an SWT train is nowhere to be seen. Much sitting at the signal at Worgret junction missing connections ensues. This is all second hand, but the friends are experienced railwaymen so know what they are talking about. What a shame. Let's hope NR do not succeed in derailing the experimental service.

Network Rail cut back the vast majority of the offending vegetation earlier today.

 

[341o2]

Network Rail cut back the vast majority of the offending vegetation earlier today.

Good news, I noted on the second run to Wareham scratches on D6515

I thought the plan was simply to reverse which is why the train is T&T.

To me, this project is as groundbreaking as when the Bluebell started as the first standard gauge line in 1960.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Worse, the Swanage trains cannot carry on over the crossing to berth in the sidings on the London side as planned. The flexible point work allowing these moves are out of use & also prevent SWT trains overtaking Swanage trains sitting in the platform. NR have had literally years to put this right. They haven't. The result is signallers are loath to let the Swanage train off the branch until an SWT train is nowhere to be seen. Much sitting at the signal at Worgret junction missing connections ensues. This is all second hand, but the friends are experienced railwaymen so know what they are talking about. What a shame. Let's hope NR do not succeed in derailing the experimental service.

Is it known what issue(s) if any are behind the flexible pointwork being out of use?

 

[XDM]

My friends got conflicting explanations. They think the most likely one is to reduce wrong direction rail traffic over the public rail crossing, which already has a full time crossing keeper. It would be interesting to know if this is true & permanent. What happens if a 50 year old diesel fails & has to be put out of the way? Chaos at the moment apparently.m

 

[bishdunster]

Stock changeover today, 4TC coming in, watch out for it on the Corfe Castle webcam, due at corfe 11.36 !

 

[SpacePhoenix]

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K96311/2017/06/30/advanced

Probably the TC on its way to Swanage

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K96312/2017/06/30/advanced

WCRC stock returning to it's home base, loco as well?

 

[Spartacus]

Two reliable friends travelled between Swanage & Wareham a couple of weekends ago. They report Network Rail has done its usual trick of helping to put passengers off the railway in general & the Swanage line in particular. The signalling is designed to be very flexible between Worgret junction & Wareham with trains off the branch able to get into the reversible up & down lines platforms. Yet NR had not trimmed the vegetation on the down line despite knowing for months that 2.82 metres width stock with opening windows would be using the line. Result, heavy branches scraped against the stock & repeated warnings had to be given to not look out of windows on pain of death. Frightening & off putting for non rail enthusiasts.
Worse, the Swanage trains cannot carry on over the crossing to berth in the sidings on the London side as planned. The flexible point work allowing these moves are out of use & also prevent SWT trains overtaking Swanage trains sitting in the platform. NR have had literally years to put this right. They haven't. The result is signallers are loath to let the Swanage train off the branch until an SWT train is nowhere to be seen. Much sitting at the signal at Worgret junction missing connections ensues. This is all second hand, but the friends are experienced railwaymen so know what they are talking about. What a shame. Let's hope NR do not succeed in derailing the experimental service.

Given the timeframes it's possible that the foliage wasn't judged an issue a number of months ago, but has obviously grown since then, though it's seems the issue has since been rectified.

I'm not aware of any issues as such with the sidings at Wareham, it's the foot crossing at the East end that's the problem. Until a new footbridge with wheelchair ramps is built it can't be closed, and as the crossing apparently can't be commissioned until it's closed. This is something that's been on-going since AT LEAST 2013, amidst a barrage of local objections, and NR has been doing it's damnedest to find a solution in the face of objectors who want to retain the 'character and appearance' of the local area, despite the proliferation of much more modern buildings around the station.

 

[Firesprite]

The crossing is the most misused in the county and in the top ten in the country. The problem has been ongoing for many years, Since the road bridge was opened (The council failed to include a footpath in the design)

The Office of Rail and Road will not authorise further scheduled train movements across the crossing as this will increase the risk to safety, therefore until the crossing problem is sorted. The Swanage services will not be able to use the sidings or crossover.

This is in the County Council minutes 24th February 2016

2.1.2

This will have an impact on the intended operation of the Swanage to Wareham Amenity Service, which Dorset County Council has financially contributed £3.2million towards, as the Office of Rail and Road will not authorise further scheduled train movements across the crossing as this will increase the risk to safety and prevent running a full service."