Could Heritage Railways be repurposed for public use?

[tomatwark]

It will be interesting to see if any lines that are forced to close because of COVID 19 and have a mainline connection are looked at by the government for reopening for public use.
I suspect the number would small, and it would take a lot of money to bring them up to standard, but st least the track bed would be clear and the infrustruction will be reasonably intact.

 

[Dunfanaghy Rd]

It will be interesting to see if any lines that are forced to close because of COVID 19 and have a mainline connection are looked at by the government for reopening for public use.
I suspect the number would small, and it would take a lot of money to bring them up to standard, but st least the track bed would be clear and the infrustruction will be reasonably intact.

Infrastructure is a major problem with this, I suspect.
Most heritage railways have deliberately re-created the signalling of the past (it's heritage, right!) but the cost of it is one of the reasons that these lines closed in the first place.
Track may be in place but is maintained to 25 mph standard (some better, some not so). Even if the track materials were A1 there would still be a program of realignment and recanting to allow the sort of speeds that a public service requires.
Also provision of suitable rolling stock has to be addressed. Bluebell, Mid Hants, and Swanage are all in 3rd rail areas - where would the DMUs come from? And how would they be serviced? In other areas there are not the spare units available. Indeed, there are shortages at present.
And all this without dealing with the issues of line ownership, heritage operation and manning.
Pat

 

[DerekC]

Nice thought - but why would anybody do that? A bus service is much easier to put on quickly if that was a need for some reason. Now a heritage bus with separate compartment for the driver might make sense!

 

[theironroad]

It will be interesting to see if any lines that are forced to close because of COVID 19 and have a mainline connection are looked at by the government for reopening for public use.
I suspect the number would small, and it would take a lot of money to bring them up to standard, but st least the track bed would be clear and the infrustruction will be reasonably intact.

While I doubt Swanage railway will fold, I'd imagine that network rail could take it over and then SWR would run through to swanage , especially considering the amount of taxpayer money already thrown at the Wareham reconnection project.

I don't see why the signalling has to be an issue, ok it's semaphore but it works well enough. Biggest issue with all heritage railway is the 25mph.
Getting people out of their cars in purbeck who might commute to Poole , Bournemouth or Southampton is going to need a reasonable journey time. I'd suggest a line speed of 60mph with through service from swanage to Poole at least, if not reopening a bay platform at Bournemouth on then country side of station.

 

[DDB]

How much of a "new line" cost is planning enquires and compulsory purchase compensation which I assume wouldn't be required if the land is still in railway use?

Persumably 25mph heritage track would be good enough to drive modern track replacement rail plant on which should make relaying the line easier?

 

[theironroad]

How much of a "new line" cost is planning enquires and compulsory purchase compensation which I assume wouldn't be required if the land is still in railway use?

Persumably 25mph heritage track would be good enough to drive modern track replacement rail plant on which should make relaying the line easier?

I wonder what would exactly be required to up a linespeeed from 25 to 60 on a heritage railway in terms of the track. New sleepers? Deeper ballast? New running rails?

Obviously the whole line needs reassessing for where curvature, structures etc etc to allow speed to be raised and also distant signals to be re-positioned where linespeed is increased.

I don't know whether the ORR and NR would even allow a heritage railway to return to NR infrastructure control unless it was fully resignalled in line with new lines and tpws etc.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Can't see it happening IMHO. And a lot of them are single line for much of their route

 

[theironroad]

Can't see it happening IMHO. And a lot of them are single line for much of their route

Realistically neither can I, unless the heritage operator really does have zero other option and then there is potential for the railway line to be lost to other uses.

 

[Cowley]

I wonder what would exactly be required to up a linespeeed from 25 to 60 on a heritage railway in terms of the track. New sleepers? Deeper ballast? New running rails?

Obviously the whole line needs reassessing for where curvature, structures etc etc to allow speed to be raised and also distant signals to be re-positioned where linespeed is increased.

I don't know whether the ORR and NR would even allow a heritage railway to return to NR infrastructure control unless it was fully resignalled in line with new lines and tpws etc.

Some heritage railways already have sections that have been used for higher speed testing of course.
I’m thinking of the Severn Valley, Great Central and possibly the Mid Hants off the top of my head?
A lot of lines had reasonably high line speeds in BR days too and some of them have track laid to quite high standards these days.
I don’t really see this actually happening either to be honest, but it’s interesting to think about it.

 

[PeterC]

If any heritage lines fail then the right of way should be preserved until a proper evaluation of its transport potential can be made.

 

[Flinn Reed]

Could be useful to at least have some more summer special services, similar to the GWR services to Okehampton and SWR services to Corfe Castle. Perhaps SWR could extend workings a bit further to Swanage? Could also introduce some occasional GWR extensions from Paignton to Kingswear, could especially be useful during the Dartmouth Regatta.

 

[PG]

Now a heritage bus with separate compartment for the driver might make sense!

OT - They'd still require a conductor to let the driver know when it was safe to start!

 

[theironroad]

Could be useful to at least have some more summer special services, similar to the GWR services to Okehampton and SWR services to Corfe Castle. Perhaps SWR could extend workings a bit further to Swanage? Could also introduce some occasional GWR extensions from Paignton to Kingswear, could especially be useful during the Dartmouth Regatta.

The SWR shuttles to Corfe weren't due to run this year as Swanage have their DMU(s) ready and we're doing crew training. Obviously all up in air at moment .

 

[RichJF]

There's two in my area...
Spa Valley Railway would actually be a decent shout for a NR service from Eridge to Tunbridge Wells (surrounding villages connecting to a large hospital in T Wells). The original line did indeed survive until 1985. However given the lack of physical connection to the Uckfield line makes it difficult!

Bluebell is a non-starter. Not a big enough settlement en route to justify requisitioning it? Of course if it were extended to Haywards Heath/Lewes.........