• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Swanage - Wareham diesel service delayed until Sept 2018

Status
Not open for further replies.

Kettledrum

Member
Joined
13 Nov 2010
Messages
790
I have family that live in Dorset who largely consider Swanage and Corfe Castle inacessible during the summer months. A journey from Bournmouth or Poole to Swanage can easily take more than 2 hours in the summer months and hence why they also found this trial service useful and used it last year. The queues for the Sandbanks ferry can easily top 1 hour. The A351 will usually be queuing traffic all the way from Corfe Castle to the Bakers Arms (A35) roundabout goung north during the summer and nearly as bad going south. The buses on the 40 get stuck in the same traffic as there is no room for bus lanes on the A351 (and this is a rural area, so many people are dependant on cars). On the route 50 from Bournemouth they can skip the queue from the Sandbanks direction (because the road around Sandbanks is one way with one lane for ferry traffic and another for through traffic, so the bus can use the through traffic lane and a short bus lane to skip to the front of the ferry queue). However this only works if the queue for the ferry is not back beyond the one-way system (it often is in summer). At the other end there is no bus lane and the buses do what looks to me a rather dangerous manouvure, which is that they have flashing lights and beepers on the bus and drive on the wrong side of the road in order to get to the front of the ferry queue. I presume they communicate with the ferry to make sure they don't do this as the ferry is just unloading, but there is still the risk of traffic coming from the beach car parks etc.

I'd love to see SWR run a regular service (ideally hourly) from Wareham (or even Bournemouth) to Swanage supplemented by seasonal steam trains between Norden and Swanage but I can't see it happening at the moment, though a seasonal service might be possible (there were rumours SWT was considering such a service as I believe they applied for a path from London to Wareham with a Diesel unit which would suggest an intention to run onto Swanage).

I recognise everything you have said here about the difficulty of getting from Bournemouth to Swanage in the Summer, and I too would like to see Summer rail services to connect them. The other huge problem with the number 50 bus is that in the Summer it is often full to capacity, and so has to drive straight passed many of the bus stops on route leaving passengers totally stranded. This is a regular occurence, so an alternative rail option is badly needed.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

CorrectFacts

New Member
Joined
25 Jan 2018
Messages
3
Is it a form of transport? Does take people from A to B (Yes), Can the public use it (Yes). So there fore it is Public Transport and people use it as such. There is very limited public parking (18spaces) in Corfe Castle so people park at Norden and take the train to get to the castle. The local railcard has a uptake well in to the 1000's and is well used. Many people using the campsites by the line use the train to get about. You can take alot of stuff on the train that you cannot on a bus. You often see shopping taken on broad and large items placed in the brake van. Don't forget that Norden Park and Ride had to be opened before services to Corfe Castle could start. The Park and Ride forms part of the local transport plan as does the railway.

https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/tra.../car-parks-in-dorset/west-street-corfe-castle
"Capacity: 123 standard parking places."
Plus the National Trust in North Castle, the parking in Church Knowle Road and on street, time limited, parking in The Square and West Street.

P.S. As a resident of Corfe for over 50 years and regular user of public transport here I have first hand knowledge.
 

joncombe

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2016
Messages
765
Now being reported that any trial service for 2018 has been abandonded and been delayed until Easter 2019.

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/ne...ys__90_day_trial_period_postponed_until_2019/

A real shame and I do hope they actually get it running in 2019. As to the bus service, the route 40 (Poole - Swanage) did actually run every 30 minutes during the summer a few years ago, but I think in recent years it has only been hourly.

The number 50 (Bournemouth - Swanage) is notoriously unreliable. To be fair to the bus company, it is a challening route to operate as during the summer months it runs every 30 minutes using a ferry service that doesn't really operatoe to a schedule. Officially the ferry is every 20 minutes, but if queues are building they run continually rather than to a fixed timetable so the bus may arrive just as the ferry is departing. Even if they are running to schedule this is not reflected in the bus timetable. This route used to run every 20 minutes in the school summer holidays too, but now the peak frequency is every 30 minutes. However the overcrowing is predictable and should be avoidable. As others have posted it is very common in the summer that the bus is full before it even leaves Bournemouth town centre with anyone wanting to get on any where between there and Studland (sometimes even Swanage) is left behind at the bus stops. I've heard that fights at the town centre stop have even broken out and they put posters up about it a year or two ago.

In short the public transport to Swanage and Corfe Castle is not adequate for the summer demand and the roads are horendously congested. So any alternative, such as a decent train service, can't come soon enough in my opinion.
 

341o2

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
1,899
It has now been announced that the service will commence "late 2018" with the timetable published this summer.

The lineup for the Spring steam gala is to be 30120, 31806, 34053, 80104 and D6515, while May 10 will see a pre diesel gala day.

Any news on 34072, which in November 2017 required one final inspection to be passed before it can join the working fleet
 

Purbeckboy

Member
Joined
13 Nov 2014
Messages
11
Remember 2019 service to Wareham is only a trial. It has not to make a loss and there needs to be enough volunteers to man the trains. The trial may show up other problems - capacity, timing, relibilty, maintenance etc. That is the point of the trial. Hopefully it will be sucessful. The first trial did show that there is a real potential, even though it ran as a loss. Everyone can dream, but it requires planning and finance etc to make it come true.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
Remember 2019 service to Wareham is only a trial. It has not to make a loss and there needs to be enough volunteers to man the trains. The trial may show up other problems - capacity, timing, relibilty, maintenance etc. That is the point of the trial. Hopefully it will be sucessful. The first trial did show that there is a real potential, even though it ran as a loss. Everyone can dream, but it requires planning and finance etc to make it come true.

Is the local council sticking its hand in its pocket ? If the congestion problems are as bad as stated above, it might make economic sense for them to ensure it happens.
 
Joined
20 Mar 2018
Messages
103
Many bus advocates are blind to just how much the general public hates travelling by bus, and my personal attempts at encouraging them often end in disaster and 'I am never travelling by bus ever again'. Wareham to Swanage was a perfect example ten years ago, arrivied at the station to find a massive gap in service, must have waited there for 90 minutes, then when the bus turns up it is a school run, so it seemingly calls at every school in Wareham filling up with shouting kids before crawling down to Swanage. Many of my friends now admit that even if buses were free, called at their front door, and ran every minute they still wouldn't use them. So, who cares how many awards the new operator has? Hants & Dorset(?) have already poisoned that well.
 

JayDee

Member
Joined
24 Aug 2018
Messages
20
I hope they do succeed as any railway should look to diversify income streams wherever possible. That being said, the SWR shuttles into Corfe Castle were (apparently) rather popular. So there's hope yet, especially with how nice the DMU sets were looking at Eastleigh Works.

When I travelled there a few years ago, however, myself and my friend found the "park and ride" type facility at Norden utterly fantastic and had a great day in Swanage without having to worry about the car, and got a steam train ride out of it! If there are similar facilities at Wareham I'd consider going there instead.
 

341o2

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
1,899
The Swanage Railway website is now saying that hopefully the Wareham service will start in 2019, details to be announced nearer the date. I was informed regarding the 2017 service was that something had to run due to investment in the project and it was known in advance that hiring stock from other operators would cause the service to run at a loss.

Also regarding the 2018 Wareham service, RMT industrial action is planned for both the 1st and 8th September, so tomorrow may be the last time this service operates
 

joncombe

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2016
Messages
765
Is the local council sticking its hand in its pocket ? If the congestion problems are as bad as stated above, it might make economic sense for them to ensure it happens.
My understanding is that Dorset County Council and Purbeck District Council financially contributed to the re-signalling.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
My understanding is that Dorset County Council and Purbeck District Council financially contributed to the re-signalling.

That's certainly very forward thinking.

The whole project seems to be something that needs to happen from a local perspective.
 

341o2

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
1,899
By "resignalling", the work involved was to install the necessary equipment to enable Corfe box to communicate with NR, other major work has included new gates at Norden and upgrading the track between Furzebrook and Worgret
 

dgl

Established Member
Joined
5 Oct 2014
Messages
2,390
My understanding is that Dorset County Council and Purbeck District Council financially contributed to the re-signalling.
Correct, their funding of part of it plus some other grant money ment that it could be included in the main re-signalling project in the area and so saved millions compared with doing it as a separate project. DCC, I believe, also no own the track to Norden and lease it back to SR.

It's always amazing to realise that the road going through Corfe is a main road, esp. considering the fact that it is not exactly a huge place with wide roads.
Really given the traffic/road problems and the popularity of Swanage as a holiday destination it seems maddening that the line was ever closed, but at least now some sense os coming back to proceedings. Now if a regular service from the east (i.e. Bournemouth/Southampton or even London) could be provided (at least in the summer) then that would be even better.

Personally I think SWR leasing a 230 would be ideal if they ever want to do a more permanent service for this line. Admittedly this would only be usable as a shuttle to Corfe or Norden from Wareham but would be good help to reduce the amount of cars going through Corfe. The top speed would never be an issue and if they really wanted to they could use 3rd rail between Wareham and Worgret Junction, and might even be possible using batteries alone if they can get enough of a charge whilst waiting at Wareham station and in the short section of 3rd rail between Wareham and Worgret Junction.
 

341o2

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
1,899
One of the uncertainties faced by the railway was a proposal to use the trackbed through Corfe for a bypass
 

dgl

Established Member
Joined
5 Oct 2014
Messages
2,390
One of the uncertainties faced by the railway was a proposal to use the trackbed through Corfe for a bypass
Yes but now that is in theory dead in the water then the railway needs to be able to provide the alternative, admittedly done very well by Norden P&R, put for customers using public transport needs a proper link rather than having to change onto a bus.
 

STEVIEBOY1

Established Member
Joined
31 Jul 2010
Messages
4,003
The Swanage Railway website is now saying that hopefully the Wareham service will start in 2019, details to be announced nearer the date. I was informed regarding the 2017 service was that something had to run due to investment in the project and it was known in advance that hiring stock from other operators would cause the service to run at a loss.

Also regarding the 2018 Wareham service, RMT industrial action is planned for both the 1st and 8th September, so tomorrow may be the last time this service operates

I was not aware until very recently, about the SWR through-ish service, it seemed to go via a very roundabout route too.
 

E759

Member
Joined
7 Dec 2017
Messages
673
Location
Sussex
I was not aware until very recently, about the SWR through-ish service, it seemed to go via a very roundabout route too.
The full return journey to Waterloo via Yeovil was certainly not the quickest way to get to London :) don’t think I’ll be repeating that again. One for the scrapbook only :)
 

341o2

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
1,899
Nice photo, is this taken at Eastliegh, meaning at least one of the units is ready for service?
 

Purbeckboy

Member
Joined
13 Nov 2014
Messages
11
Nice photo, is this taken at Eastliegh, meaning at least one of the units is ready for service?
Yes taken by Carl Watson and they all appear to be finished, just waiting for the paperwork for Mainline working
 

STEVIEBOY1

Established Member
Joined
31 Jul 2010
Messages
4,003
They are both good photos, I quite like those old DMUs. I can see that there appear to be two carriages here, is that what they plan to run into Wareham, or could it be a 3 or 4 coach train?. I was just thinking at busy times, a 2 carriage train may be rather crowded.
 

Cowley

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
15 Apr 2016
Messages
15,686
Location
Devon
They have the option of running 1, 2 or 3 cars according to demand.
I thought that the 117 was planned to be a 3 car originally so that they could run up to 4 cars in service?
 

341o2

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2011
Messages
1,899
The railway must be confident that these units will enter service shortly as their 108 unit is for sale on the basis of being surplus to requirements and unable to work with these units which are now "blue square +"
 
Joined
13 Sep 2018
Messages
287
The railway must be confident that these units will enter service shortly as their 108 unit is for sale on the basis of being surplus to requirements and unable to work with these units which are now "blue square +"
They have a number of items for sale. Last year was rather unprofitable and "parking space" on the railway is limited.

According to a now dead relative, who lived at Swanage, locals wishing to visit Wareham used the bus on account of the poor location of the railway station.

Politicians and railway enthusiasts do tend to share a propensity for wishful thinking. A successful tourist railway function does not necessarily mean a successful public transport one.

PH
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
They have a number of items for sale. Last year was rather unprofitable and "parking space" on the railway is limited.

According to a now dead relative, who lived at Swanage, locals wishing to visit Wareham used the bus on account of the poor location of the railway station.

Politicians and railway enthusiasts do tend to share a propensity for wishful thinking. A successful tourist railway function does not necessarily mean a successful public transport one.

PH

One should be wary of extrapolating ones own preferences to everyone else. I have a frequent bus to Leeds that stops almost outside my door. Nevertheless, I walk fifteen minutes to the station because the overall journey by train is still quicker.

Many people, not least inbound visitors to Swanage, may find a connecting train service more suitable for their needs.
 

johnnychips

Established Member
Joined
19 Nov 2011
Messages
3,675
Location
Sheffield
According to a now dead relative, who lived at Swanage, locals wishing to visit Wareham used the bus on account of the poor location of the railway station.

PH

The bus leaves from the railway station. Unless they live on the line of the bus route towards Corfe, people would find each equally convenient.

EDIT: sorry, you mean the station in Wareham is inconvenient! It seems to be quite a walk from the centre via a large roundabout.
 

Dougal2345

Member
Joined
29 Oct 2009
Messages
547
sorry, you mean the station in Wareham is inconvenient! It seems to be quite a walk from the centre via a large roundabout.
Yes it's a fair walk. There's a subway under the busy road at the roundabout, but all the same it's a good 10-15 minutes with a hill at the end, not much shade on a hot sunny day and probably extremely unpleasant in driving rain. I wouldn't fancy walking it if I were a pensioner.

So not ideal, but OTOH Swanage and Corfe, and further on Poole, Parkstone, Branksome stations are all nicely situated (but not Bournemouth).

Maybe the Swanage railway should lay on a minibus from Wareham station to Wareham town... :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top