The West of England Mainline? Are you sure? I thought that bit there was the Great Western Mainline (GWML)
Whatever
Steve
www.wsr.org.uk
The West of England Mainline? Are you sure? I thought that bit there was the Great Western Mainline (GWML)
Interesting debate folks but I have to agree that it must not lead to WSR being out-of-pocket if the anticipated passenger numbers fail to meet expectations. If it aint broke .. dont mend it !!
I watch Tangmere arrive at Bishops about 50 mins early and it waited near water tank for 30 mins at least before the GWR 8F coupled on.
On a slightly unrelated point, what is that new road to nowhere going to do to the NR connection ? Google maps call it Great Western Way and it peters-out near the static caravan park ... nothing happening to the tracks of WSR or lined up is there? Dont know what date photos I am looking at and the layout may well have changed by now.
As a West Somerset Railway shareholder I would certainly like to see regular through trains to Taunton and perhaps beyond.
As many others post this unfortunatly seems unlikely in the near term due to the costs.
Much is made of the large number of Butlins customers who at present either drive or take the bus.
Unfortunatly, Minehead station though fairly near the holiday camp, is not near enough for most customers, and is definatly too far to walk with heavy luggage or small children.
Bus transport from Minehead station to butlins is certainly possible, but innvolves another change with risk of delay or c*ck ups.
Some years ago, I believe that there was a serious proposal to build a new station on the WSR to serve Butlins.
Though not exactly a trivial undertaking, it looks entirely doable.
It would require a loop from the existing line into the present butlins car park, and back onto the existing line so as to avoid any shunting or reversing.
Two very small bridges would be needed over a small steam and adjacent public footpath.
A single track loop with signalling to permit of use in either direction would seem sufficient.
Both Butlins and the WSR would gain from this, and there would appear to be a strong case for public money being used for the capital costs in view of the wider benifits to the local economy.
At present on changeover days at the holiday camp, the local roads and therefore buses are almost unusable due to congestion.
A railway link directly into butlins would relieve this and perhaps compare well with the often proposed road widening.
The increased traffic on the WSR would make through running onto the national network far more viable.
The holiday camp is used increasingly outside the holiday season for music festivals and religous events.
the thousands attending such events would be better converyed by rail, at least from Taunton and perhaps from farther afield.
Butlins at Filey had their own station built in about 1947. It lasted for thirty years before being closed by BR on economic grounds. Not so long afterwards the camp itself bit the dust. The station is still there in the undergrowth somewhere and the camp just some rubble. No way would this be justified unless the cost of motoring was to skyrocket.
I think the next development on heritage railways sharing tracks will possibly be the Swanage railway at Wareham it'll be interesting to see what is proposed there.
SR are looking at getting another TOC to run the through services (to test the market).
Not directly , it has its own separate station a few hundred metres away.Doesnt a heritage railway connect at Totnes as well to main line services?
I agree with that ,it is a faff. It would be so much easier if there were a Taunton - Bishops Lydeard shuttle as was the case on the Mixed Traction weekend in June.I have looked into it, but no matter how regular the buses are, it's still more of a faff than , say, crossing the platform at Bodmin Parkway, or walking to Totnes Riverside!
I'm sure I will make it one day, though!
The other regrettable thing is the fact that there are 3 bus services linking between various places on the WSR with Taunton and I suppose the question has to be asked wether regular WSR services to / from Taunton would hold off the competition even though the journey times are shorter by train.
Dave
for those unfamiliar with Taunton, what would the physical undertaking be to extend WSR metals from the present junction at Norton Fitzwarren to the bay platform at Taunton?
for those unfamiliar with Taunton, what would the physical undertaking be to extend WSR metals from the present junction at Norton Fitzwarren to the bay platform at Taunton?
Taking small steps at a time , it would be interesting to know how the Okehampton service is performing financially on its Summer Sundays venture. It may be a precursor for running Saturday & Sunday shuttles from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard with possibly the odd through train to Minehead.Kindly see my previous posts in this thread...it's not as straightforward as some may think.
Oh - and I can add that the platform mentioned would hold just four or five coaches plus loco (depending on the length of the loco). Most WSR services require seven or more coaches. However, the platform would do for something like a 3-car DMU shuttle - I suspect the annual income from that would not cover the annual outlay, let alone make in-roads into a considerable capital cost
Steve
Taking small steps at a time , it would be interesting to know how the Okehampton service is performing financially on its Summer Sundays venture.
Good question but who runs/charters the Okehampton summer service and who covers any loss?The TOC that runs this summer Sunday service is FGW in partnership with Devon County. More information about the line can be found here;
http://www.dartmoor-railway.co.uk/timetables.html
http://www.dartmoor-railway.co.uk/tt-june2012a.pdf
However it would be intresting if a service provided by FGW could be achived on the WSR just on one day trough a week through the summer plus would give the TOC's more information/an idea about the line and if the service would make a profit.
Good question but who runs/charters the Okehampton summer service and who covers any loss?I think that weekends should be the target market timed so as to fit into the WSR timetable at Bishops Lydeard as was the case with the Mixed Traffic shuttle.The TOC that runs this summer Sunday service is FGW in partnership with Devon County. More information about the line can be found here;
http://www.dartmoor-railway.co.uk/timetables.html
http://www.dartmoor-railway.co.uk/tt-june2012a.pdf
However it would be intresting if a service provided by FGW could be achived on the WSR just on one day trough a week through the summer plus would give the TOC's more information/an idea about the line and if the service would make a profit.
It would be nice to think a community rail service could be viable but let's remember that it wasn't according to Dr B.
Well after the "customer service" my family and I received on Friday 17 August I really dont care for the railway.
It would be nice to think a community rail service could be viable but let's remember that it wasn't according to Dr B.
Good question but who runs/charters the Okehampton summer service and who covers any loss?
I think that weekends should be the target market timed so as to fit into the WSR timetable at Bishops Lydeard as was the case with the Mixed Traffic shuttle.
It would be nice to think a community rail service could be viable but let's remember that it wasn't according to Dr B.
I totally agree with you Pen Mill
You doubt correctly , it appears theres's just enough time to change ends !How long is the turn around on the Taunton terminaters, maybe they could be extended to BL if there is enough time, which I doubt.
Totally unnacceptable, but something that can happen anywhere, especially on railways relying on volunteers - its certainly not representative of the railway as a whole. Have you got in contact with the railway so that the individual can be dealt with?
Chris
Good question but who runs/charters the Okehampton summer service and who covers any loss?The TOC that runs this summer Sunday service is FGW in partnership with Devon County. More information about the line can be found here;
http://www.dartmoor-railway.co.uk/timetables.html
http://www.dartmoor-railway.co.uk/tt-june2012a.pdf
However it would be intresting if a service provided by FGW could be achived on the WSR just on one day trough a week through the summer plus would give the TOC's more information/an idea about the line and if the service would make a profit.
Thanks. So the big key difference here is the financial support and involvement of the local county council. As far as I know, the Somerset County Council has no interest whatsoever in financially underwriting a similar service on the WSR. And you can rest assured that the WSR asks the question on a regular basis of all the local authorities and other possible funding sources.
As for your other thought, I'm sure if FGW felt it worth running a through service on just one day a week then I'm quite sure it would have happened a long time ago. It just is not commercially viable, as things stand. And again I am quite sure this issue is a standing item on the agenda of the regular FGW/WSR meetings, and similar regular meetings with other TOCs.
Steve