Swanage Railway General Discussion

I am not sure there is exactly of a shortage of places to get lunch in either Swanage or Corfe. The problem in Swanage is that many of them seem to come & not last for very long.
Against that backdrop what offering do you propose the railway could offer to provide some sort of USP that distinguishes them from the rest.

 

It is a very thorny problem in fact a series of problems:

Firstly: staff: if you want to offer anything above the basic kiosk offering (hot and cold drinks, prepackaged confectionery, crisps etc) then you require paid staff. Those staff are in high demand in Purbeck. Problematically those staff usually want a year round post not seasonal. SRC cant offer year round posts as quite simply the railway is closed for too many weeks of the year. Volunteers can run the basic kiosk offering (as they have done and done very well) but we now have the problem of too few volunteers to open an outlet every operating day.

Secondly: location: Both Swanage and Corfe Castle have plenty of retail food outlets offering imho a greater range than SRC could ever hope to offer. Problematically if SRC chose one particular theme for example an old fashioned cafe (beans on toast, poached egg on toast, spaghetti on toast) would there be enough demand for it versus the competition? (Not withstanding point 1 above about staff).

Thirdly: Facility: If you go down the cafe route Where is the space for say a 36 cover cafe at Swanage or Corfe Castle or Norden. The railway volunteers would rule out immediately the one location that could be used and have a usp. Even if the location was available the staff problem remains unresolved.

I would be happy to be proved wrong but I feel that an outsourced caterer will run into the same problems as everyone faces and eventually give up.

So on the basis that either an outsourcer operator can not be found or gives up what would I do?

The 'Sensible' Option

1. Swanage. Close the kiosk and install 2 high quality vending machines. Possibly a costa machine but NB there have to be staff willing and able to jump to it when it needs attention.
2. Norden. Continue the existing kiosk facility but recognise the need to recruit a team of volunteers to staff it.
3. Corfe Castle. Close the Nest Carriage.

It would be an interesting exercise for one summer to relocate the kiosk from Norden to Corfe Castle to see which is the better location. I dont think you can run them both because of the volunteer staffing issue.

The 'Wacky' out of the box option.

In Corfe Castle Station yard provide a pitch to a burger van operator and charge them £50 per day pitch fee with a guarantee of being on site and open every train running day from 1 April to 31st October.

 

I don't see the burger cvvan option as wacky at all - but very sensible and worth of consideration - or one of those posh/artisan coffe things?

 

A coffee truck (actually The Tea Truck) was tried at Corfe Castle Station a few years ago and whilst on the face of it being very appealing, afaik the operator decided there were more lucrative locations elsewhere.

Corfe Castle Station is only busy when trains are due / immediately after arrival. This is fine during the peak season 2 train service but not good on the 80 / 90 minute frequency. When people arrive at Corfe Castle by train their focus is to get into the village to see the castle etc. IMHO only something very special with a real USP would attract people visiting the village and castle by road / on foot etc to come to the station for something to eat and drink. Edit. It is interesting to note how much more upmarket (and priced) the pubs in the village have become even before the cost of living crisis. A burger van may just be that something different which appeals to a section of the population.

As noted previously this is a very thorny problem and one that has remained unsolved for many years. Perhaps the time has come to admit CC Station is not the place where a viable catering operation can be run and focus on Norden or as said earlier relocate the kiosk from Norden to Corfe Castle on the basis that it can be run by volunteers subject to recruiting sufficient numbers.

 

I've never been a believer that secondary spend is the great money spinner that some advocate and, in terms of catering, it largely depends on your target audience. Unlike some railways, I don't see the Swanage Railway as a destination, more a means to getting to your destination and that makes a fundamental difference. When he gets off the train at Swanage, Corfe or Norden the passenger has something else in mind and will straight away head into the town or village and, if they are looking for refreshments they will look to these places. In the case of Norden, they will almost certainly be heading for the car. For this reason, your most likely clientele is going to be someone who has arrived at the station to find that there is a relatively long wait until the next train so they need to pass a bit of time and a cuppa and a snack will fill that requirement. On my visits to the SR, this has laways been my case and I've got off the train and straight into Swanage. I think the only time I've partaken of any refreshments was waiting for a train at Norden when I had a cuppa. Having said that, I've not been at all imopressed with the food offering available in Swanage itself and, on my last visit, it took me 1½ hours to get my order served and I had to go and enquire what had happened to it. My wife didn't even get what she had ordered but was too hungry to send it back!
For railways where they are primarily the destination, and I put the Bluebell, Great Central and Isle of Wight in this category, amongst others, catering can be more successful as the passenger is probably not looking to go elsewhwere. At such railways I see it as part of the offering but whether it is a cash cow, I still have my doubts.

 

Well on the way to get my haircut this afternoon I worked out that in Station and Institute Roads alone there are 12 places you can sit down to eat, two more takeaway places and two supermarkets (incls the Co op right on the doorstep of course).
That is before you count slightly further but still within a 5 to 0 minute stroll, 4 pubs, Gee Whites, 2 Chip Shops, the cafe on the pier and numerous ice cream parlours, some of which do sandwiches. Oh and the new Mediterranean Restaurant opposite the station.
Maybe a burger van would work, but the burger facility at the ESR Gala which people said was good quality was £12 for burger and chips or £8 for a burger apparently. I bulk at the price of a Big Mac these days so maybe I am not the one to ask.

 

That sums up Swanage exactly.. The only point about the burger van is that it would be someone else's financial risk so if it didnt work that would be an end to it.

I laughed at your comment about the price of a Big mac because I was shocked on my recent visit to McD the first for many years how the prices have shot up.

As I said a kiosk at Norden (or Corfe Castle if it could be trialled and proved to be a bigger money spinner than at Norden) having somehow got a team of volunteers to run it.

In some respects this problem has all the hallmarks of the Wareham - lots of discussion, financially challenging. Time to move on.

 

It's definitely the case that one size doesn't fit all. I agree with what you're saying - the only place anyone is likely on the Swanage Railway waiting at a station is at Norden. But on quieter days, would there be enough revenue to even bother opening some sort of catering facility?

It certainly seems to depend entirely on what and where the line is. I count Swanage and PDSR as the same - a transport system to get people to the seaside. The Bluebell is definitely a destination railway - you'll struggle to find anywhere to eat around Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes! Then you get others like Nene Valley and Avon Valley. Not huge carriers of passengers, but Wansford, Overton and Bitton all pick up a lot of passing traffic, more than would be generated by the railway themselves.

 

I think though that the basic facility - the kiosk at Norden - has to be open every day the normal passenger service is operating even if this means a modest loss. Finding it closed on an operating day is bound to disappoint some passengers - detracting from the overall experience. There is also the well being and morale of the staff and volunteers to consider who may be at Norden undertaking gardening for example and who welcome a cup of tea and a quick chat. It is more inclusive than going back to the hut to make your own tea.

If there is the 'luxury of volunteer labour' - and sometimes it is a luxury - the costs of running the kiosk are very low indeed.

 

Forgive my ignorance, are there manned RMBs or equivilant on the trains? If the "shore" catering facilities only get used when trains are about, then keeping the catering with the trains might be the more efficient solution.

 

All that extra weight being carted around though

Tom

 

There is one Micro Buffet available but it seems to have been challenging to persuade passengers to leave their seats to patronise it.

Whatever the railway decides to do, it has to be open for business and it has to be promoted. As I said about the kiosks the simpler it is, the easier it is to recruit volunteers to run it. You dont need umpteen different flavours of crisp or cordial just a simple range that caters for the majority.

 

My view is that you want some sort of catering at Norden as you will have people who may well have travelled quite some distance and will want at least a drink and possibly a bun to tide them over until they arrive at Swanage

 

The Swanage has a very particular problem I think. It is a relatively short trip and is largely seen (I suspect) as “posh park and ride”. As customers know there are lots of options in Corfe and Swanage the railway will always struggle. I agree with the suggestion that Norden is the one place where a railway offering is most welcome.

 

I was wondering who'd be the first to spot that!

 

One thing that could replace the need of the Kiosk at Norden and Swanage.. a simply micro buffet on the train (which is in use anyway)? . This would need 1/2 volunteers a day. Open them up to all the customers at a single time, instead of Norden/Swanage.

I do agree that as soon as many passengers come into Swanage many go straight into town and after coming back from town. Are often fully fed and watered.

Out of Swanage/Nordon, I also agree the latter is best

Apart from the one buffet coach on the 1st service train. Corfe I think could be the best location to keep that buffet carriage but change it from just a café to more of a café/bar areas where anyone can enjoy a pint or two during the sunny days (which is very popular during the galas)

 

Possibly. more germane issue at Swanage is not the weight - they are relatively well-provided with large engines - but the platform length. If your longest train is five coaches, having one of them a catering vehicle (and another a brake) cuts down quite significantly on how many seats you have - which could be an issue at busy times at least.

I tend to agree with others: not one, but many factors (short journey; abundant local competition; the fact the line is primarily about the journey to somewhere rather than being the attraction itself etc etc), probably all combine in a way to make catering tough at the railway.

Tom

 

But the Bankes Arms is literally just round the corner ... The problem with a sell based on "its popular during galas" is "how many days of galas do you have per year?"

The one selling point for a kiosk at Norden (and something very simple: tea/coffee; muffins; ice cream) is you might get some trade from families letting the kids have a last play on the playground before a drive home. Whereas at Corfe you are always going to suffer from competition in the village.

Tom

 

Agreed. There is also the "waiting" on the platform which provides the opportunity to entice people to have a drink, biscuit etc.

 

Not the point but: you what?