North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

https://www.railwaytouring.net/the-whitby-goth-express

RTC taking a railtour to Whitby on the Friday of half term for Whitby Goth Weekend, only made possible because despite it being school holidays, NYMR aren't running services that day. Thousands of people attending an event that's advertised well in advance. A perfect opportunity to run a park and ride service. But no.

 

Liking that post is perhaps the wrong message, but it does seem remarkable that of all the days you choose not to run to your key destination, you choose the one where it is expected to be busy!

Tom

 

Agreed. I still find it hard to believe that they aren't running for every day of every set of school holidays and haven't linked the timetabled days with at least the more major local events. It feels to me like missing an open goal.

 

Just a few that I tend to keep an eye:

The KWVR always state in the main season timetable which are expected to be steam and which will be diesel. More often than not the backup is also a steam engine.

The SVR



The Great Central



The East Lancs


I don't think this is rocket science. It gives the public a clear expectation and operations a clear target. Odd failures and resulting substitutions will happen sometimes but the way the NYMR timetable is set up it just reads like sometimes it might be steam, but we expect to substitute with diesel.

 

I’d possibly question whether the demand might be difficult to manage, and the timings ill suited to NYMR’s available paths. But I still find the decision incredible

 

Car parking in Whitby over Goth weekend is a nightmare. Providing a park and ride from Pickering with a bit of advertising would surely have filled the trains. Not rocket science.

 

If I'm attending an event, I don't want to have a nearly 2 hour journey to get to where I'm going from where I've parked the car (not to mention the £40 per passenger.) Sorry, but that makes no sense to me at all.

 

It depends whether the train is pure park & ride (in which case I agree), or part of the day out (in which case the equation is different). And that is the whole challenge about Pickering to Whitby traffic in a nutshell, as the boundary is blurred

 

Iirc Whitby has a Steam Punk weekend? Not to run a service for that one would be crazy.

 

It seems to me to be another case of perception and marketing, both of which seem to be sadly lacking among the NYMR senior management -and let's not forget as @Lineisclear used to remind us, this is a team effort! Really, the perception should be that this is a golden opportunity, and should be marketed as such - and let's not forget that there is a reasonably large car park at Grosmont as well. But ... is it a weekend event, when many of the paid office-bound staff are unwilling to work and lend a hand? I do wonder!

It is the AGM quite soon . I just hope that there will be ructions and many of the existing Trust Board members will be replaced by volunteers who know what is needed to be done, and are prepared to pressurise the Pc Board into changing their ways and approach.

 

It is not a park and ride service. That's silly nickname given to it by those who don't like the Whitby operation.
Do people say Bishops Lydeard to Minehead is a park and ride? Do the WSR volunteers get shirty when people go to Minehead and get off the train to visit the town and enjoy themselves, rather than getting off in Watchet?

I'm saddened, but not surprised to hear they're not running on one of the busiest days of Whitby's calendar. They seem determined to avoid making money.
Did they seriously expect at least 1200 people per day to turn up for eight days of Thomas, when they could've made more money running the usual timetable?

It's possible to work out these sums on the back of an envelope in a few minutes, yet people being paid between £60k and £90k a year cannot see it.

 

This assumes that the alternative is to drive directly to the event, and park there. @Steve's point was that that is not possible. You have to compare the real alternative(s).

Noel

 

I could understand a Grosmont to Whitby park and ride, but to add the whole line journey in makes it nonsensical. Say my three friends and I want to attend the event in Whitby. We can either drive to Whitby, and park wherever we can, or park at Pickering and pay a total of £160 to get to Whitby. The pure economics of it, especially in the current climate, mean that I am taking the cheaper option, even if I have quite a walk to get to the event once I've parked!

 

The posts were referring to running a specifically park and ride service to a particular event in Whitby, rather than the usual standard service.....

 

Given that many people do drive directly to the event, hence the parking chaos in Whitby, it is possible. It's not necessarily the best idea, but it is possible. I don't consider a 2 hour train ride a viable alternative. A shuttle from Grosmont, possibly.

 

I agree that it would be silly to use the railway as a park and ride based on the economics, but the numbers don't lie. The only full trains are the Whitby bound ones (and later returns). Logically you'd think if there is a big event on there that traffic could be further increased, if trains are running and capacity is there. To have your busiest option unavailable on a day when there is increased custom available is just ridiculous.

 

Todays roster has 2253 listed on the Pullman but its just been hooked up to the 10:35 ex-Grosmont instead, so won't be back in time. Pleased to see it for two days in the row but it definitely isn't matching what's being put out.

 

I have said before that I think the NYMR is still viable as a heritage railway, but not with its present management. They show a complete lack of the ability to recognise and take advantage of any opportunities that arise. They should by now, following the visit of Flying Scotsman last year, have worked out how to negotiate extra parking spaces at Grosmont for a Park@Ride service to build on potential heavily loaded trains from Pickering. It seems to me that the only events the paid staff can organise - and I'm not sure how successful they are! - are reading events for younger children. Ignoring the annual steam punk weekend - and other Whitby and/or Pickering based events just seem to most of us to be commercial suicide

It is the AGM quite soon, and it really has to - indeed must - see the start of a positively howling wind of change. Who will rid us of this troublesome management?!

 

In the old days, many services ex-Pickering were strengthen to 8 coaches, and I'm sure on occasion up to 9 were used. If the demand is there why not now? There are more diesels now, so surely assistance could be provided, and if the loads are there they would more than cover the extra costs. The NYMR really needs to meet the needs and requirements of its customers, and I suggest that, at present, is getting nowhere close to doing that.

 

You might not do it but there are plenty who would combine a trip on the Railway with a visit to Whitby as part of their day out. You’re assuming that you can get a parking space in Whitby. You might be lucky, especially if you get there early but, if you can’t what do you do? Abandon the idea or park well out of town and walk or catch the bus?