Swanage Railway General Discussion

Just been to the PSPS A|GM.

Waverleys passenger numbers are 50% UP over last year.

Clearly its a different kettle of steam, BUT it shows it can be done

 

Waverley isnt a good compare he didn’t run a lot years before due to damage and fixings. Swanage could get better if Waverley came more as a connection? And used smaller engines such as kilmersdon hired to do break van rides around swanage. The problem with railway is more peoples members are out. People are not renewing because money is tighter. There is no money for more incenses either to get renewals. It is a tough problem I am hearing at railways. Thankfully the T3 is getting us in. How do you get them to do it on the platform and not in fields? Another big question for the managers as they deal with photographers buying tickets

 

Could you repeat that please? I’ve really no idea what point you’re trying to make.

 

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I do not know what happened to @Paulthehitch post as my reply has gone and there is a large gap in his post before the last line. So I will try again.
To get people to ride you need people to come to Purbeck in the first place. My unscientific view of the summer is most weeks the town was quieter than normal, and the overflow for the main car park (which is a good indicator) was not used very many days. Even on Friday when a third is given over to the market when the overflow was not needed.
If on are on the I.O.W. then your "market for something to do" is limited without high ferry costs to the island. On the mainland there are many more options of which the SR is just one.
I guess the tourist folk will publish some numbers eventually. Remember the tourist market does not revolve around Heritage Railways.

 

The car park may have been not so used as people were using SWR and then the DMU.
https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/ne...t-of-purbeck-thanks-to-working-in-partnership
"Leave your car at home and travel by rail is the message from the Swanage Railway which is to operate a trial heritage diesel train service from the main line at Wareham".

But this year more people are back to travelling abroad rather than a "staycation" which could have affected the seaside towns.
Some people, especially with families, may be being careful as prices and housing costs in the UK has risen and doing less.
Less tourists from Europe visiting the UK?.
As you say there should be figures from the tourist industry soon?.
Also the SR might publish results of the DMU trial and the summer season?.

 

I do not know what happened to @Paulthehitch post as my reply has gone and there is a large gap in his post before the last line. So I will try again.
To get people to ride you need people to come to Purbeck in the first place. My unscientific view of the summer is most weeks the town was quieter than normal, and the overflow for the main car park (which is a good indicator) was not used very many days. Even on Friday when a third is given over to the market when the overflow was not needed.
If on are on the I.O.W. then your "market for something to do" is limited without high ferry costs to the island. On the mainland there are many more options of which the SR is just one.
I guess the tourist folk will publish some numbers eventually. Remember the tourist market does not revolve around Heritage Railways.[/QUOTE]
Firstly, apologies tor the electronic gremlins who got involved with my last posting. Halloween of course!

Secondly, it is astonishingly expensive to take a car over to the IOW in the peak season yet the private car or excursion coach directly to Havenstreet are much the most favoured way of accessing the IOWSR. Hence the investment in a large surfaced car park with facilities for charging electric cars. The three post lockdown seasons have all been good.

 

The electric charge point at Havenstreet is a 7kw home style charger that has been out of use every time I’ve been there. That’s unless it’s been changed since August?
Swanage is not performing strongly enough, its commercial decisions by the ticketing department regarding the T3 are quite frankly garbage.

 

The Swanage railway wrongly thought the T3 would be as popular as Flying Scotsman which it is not so pitched the fares at that level to their credit they have reduced fares to try to encourage more take up enthusiasts make up a minority of passengers on a normal day and if its not in BR Colours many will not be interested in my opinion the T3 looks wonderful in its LSWR livery

 

Talking of huge shortfalls and not performing very well.

Surly the last thing the people in charge would want to do is to put an extra carrage onto the service (see no evidence so far from the cameras that any trains particular needs an extra 60 seats, rain all week aswell) thus then needing an additional 33 and adding more complexity. Unless, that is doing a lot of the pushing power and saving coal.

With Southern Wagon group selling all their wagons on the railway there is quite alot of space on the railway now.

Is there any news with the carriage shed. All the foundations are in? Where has all the money for that gone?

 

Swanage Railway is in discussion with the local planning authority Dorset Council about the carriage shed. Work is thus halted.

 

The railway as a whole did not consider the T3 to be as good as Flying Scotsman.

 

Baffled. When? Two months ago, two weeks ago, now? “The railway as a whole” means the employees you’ve spoken to? Volunteers? It’s a very sweeping statement.

 

I would have thought obvious. Although personally I do not get the whole "FS thing" the fact it sells out everywhere it goes, mainline timings have to be withheld to avoid trespass tells you how different it is to any other loco. Also from having stewarded a few FS trips, and talking to stewards who have done many this year it is still the same in the the client base is different to a normal railtour as well.

 

If it is/was so obvious, why was a rover ticket not included initially (my understanding) and the base fare more than FS, or have I got that wrong?

Anyway, just to add 007 does not speak for me, or indeed for “the railway as a whole”.

 

I think I heard there were hopes work could re start in early 2024?

 

You would have to ask the railway's commercial team that. Personally I would have included it.
I read the post from @007 as it would not be as commercially successful. If there are those that believed it would be I would like to know what gave them that opinion.
To me the T3 is a far more interesting loco than FS, or any new build as they do not appeal to me, but if we are talking about locos the general non enthusiast public identify with it is FS and to a lesser extent Tornado. in my opinion.
Did people really expect to see crowds two or three deep along Gilbert Road?

 

It's to do with the romantic vision of an express train taking holidaymakers out of dreary London to the beautiful Scottish countryside. Later became the record breaking loco which captured people's attention.

The 563 was part of the LSWR express trains which took holidaymakers to the South Coast and liner boats
This picture is from the Titanic heritage website, but could have been any express from Waterloo. Although the LSWR sometimes called the express trains after the liner companies, it never had a name which took off in a similar way name the LNER used.
But the picture captures the atmosphere of Victorian people returning from a good journey.

 

And to me. However there is no incentive for me to rush to Swanage and pay an over inflated price for a single ride behind it, when I know it’s going to be a regular loco at Swanage for the next 10 years of its boiler certificate, and that I’ll be able to go next year and spend £25 on a day rover for unlimited rides behind it.

Flying Scotsman is different in that it’s visit to Swanage was an unusual event, and there was only a limited window to ride behind it there.

 

So far only between 13 and 20 seats booked on each of the T3 services tomorrow.

It probably doesn’t help that when clicking on the ticket booking page on the SR website, only tickets for normal services are available. If you want to find the option to buy tickets for the T3 service, you have to know about it and go hunting for it. Potentially missing out on some tickets sales from previously unaware customers seeing the option there and being tempted by it.

 

Yes subject to the local authority planning issue being resolved.