Berney Arms - rail replacement boat?

[CaptainHaddock]

I'm in East Anglia right now and had planned to take a ride out from Norwich to Berney Arms but the line's shut due to track relaying and, whilst there's a bus between Norwich and Lowestoft, there's nothing running between Reedham and Great Yarmouth.

I know it would be a daft thing to do but, supposing I were to buy a Norwich to Berney Arms ticket, how would Greater Anglia get me there, given there's no road access and the railway line is shut? Charter a boat from Great Yarmouth maybe?

 

[Bletchleyite]

I suspect they'd probably say "don't be so silly" and refund your ticket

If you pushed the point, a taxi to Wickhampton church is probably the closest you can get by road and is I'd imagine what you'd get.

 

[40fan]

Back in the 1990s I was on a Liverpool to Weymouth train which was failed at Birmingham International because of problems with the brake van. Passengers for the Channel Islands were advised that a rail replacement plane was to be provided.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Back in the 1990s I was on a Liverpool to Weymouth train which was failed at Birmingham International because of problems with the brake van. Passengers for the Channel Islands were advised that a rail replacement plane was to be provided.

If there are seats available, I certainly think Caledonian Sleeper should consider offering that in the event of a cancellation, certainly to premium berth passengers.

 

[thenorthern]

They are obliged to get you to your destination not sure how that would happen though. I think in theory they could drop you off in a taxi at Berney Arms wind mill as it's not uncommon for rail replacement busses to pick people up from outside the station and it's the nearest point with road access (well sort of).

 

[Ianno87]

They are obliged to get you to your destination not sure how that would happen though. I think in theory they could drop you off in a taxi at Berney Arms wind mill as it's not uncommon for rail replacement busses to pick people up from outside the station and it's the nearest point with road access (well sort of).

Does the onligation include when they have clearly no advertised train or replacement bus service?

 

[davetheguard]

They are obliged to get you to your destination not sure how that would happen though. I think in theory they could drop you off in a taxi at Berney Arms wind mill as it's not uncommon for rail replacement busses to pick people up from outside the station and it's the nearest point with road access (well sort of).

I'm sure any local ticket office -such as Norwich as mentioned by the OP- would simply say "sorry, we're not operating any services to there at the moment". However, I presume someone could still buy a ticket on line or from a machine in all innocence and then have problems....

 

[221129]

I'm sure any local ticket office -such as Norwich as mentioned by the OP- would simply say "sorry, we're not operating any services to there at the moment". However, I presume someone could still buy a ticket on line or from a machine in all innocence and then have problems....

Then it would be treated the same as if you brought a ticket after the last train of the day had gone...

 

[mawallace]

I know that when the line was shut before they made a point of saying that Berny Arms would not be covered by rail transport -

both Greater Anglia and National Rail say " No road access, not served by rail replacement "

so i think they would say - nicely - get lost!

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I'm sure any local ticket office -such as Norwich as mentioned by the OP- would simply say "sorry, we're not operating any services to there at the moment". However, I presume someone could still buy a ticket on line or from a machine in all innocence and then have problems....

Exactly! When I got to Norwich station this morning, out of curiousity I used the ticket mschine, selected Berney Arms as my destination and was offered a fare.

Of course I didn't select it and have had a lovely day walking between Cromer and Sheringham instead but nonetheless it does expose a flaw in using ticket machine in that you can buy a ticket to a destination even when there's no means of getting there!

 

[edwin_m]

Exactly! When I got to Norwich station this morning, out of curiousity I used the ticket mschine, selected Berney Arms as my destination and was offered a fare.

Of course I didn't select it and have had a lovely day walking between Cromer and Sheringham instead but nonetheless it does expose a flaw in using ticket machine in that you can buy a ticket to a destination even when there's no means of getting there!

Surely they could modify the database to temporarily remove all fares to a particular station?

 

[Class 170101]

There is 'road' access to where the pub (now closed) is on the riverside but thats probably about as close as one would get to the Station itself.

 

[richard1976]

Why this family needed a lifeboat rescue when their train didn’t show up at Berney Arms

When your train does not turn up as scheduled, it can be an immensely frustrating experience - but it does not normally necessitate an...

www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk

 

[dk1]

Same as when the line was shut for 18mths during resignalling. Berney Arms is temporarily closed. No alternative travel is offered. It's a pleasant walk on a nice day.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Same as when the line was shut for 18mths during resignalling. Berney Arms is temporarily closed. No alternative travel is offered. It's a pleasant walk on a nice day.

The family example above is probably a very unusual one - given that the only purpose of going there is a walk (as there's nothing else there), you can just change your walk.

There are no doubt other examples - not being on a public road Altnabreac gets no rail replacement, but unless you live in the station building which I believe is now a house there is no reason to go there other than a walk, so you go for a walk somewhere else instead. A short notice cancellation could be an issue, but I suppose you need to take that into account in your planning and equipment.

 

[dk1]

The family example above is probably a very unusual one - given that the only purpose of going there is a walk (as there's nothing else there), you can just change your walk.

I didn't have much patience with that story at the time let alone now.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I didn't have much patience with that story at the time let alone now.

I'm not entirely sure why they couldn't just have walked to the road at Wickhampton for a rail replacement taxi. It's not that far. They'd have had to carry the kids I suppose.

 

[Ianno87]

Surely they could modify the database to temporarily remove all fares to a particular station?

Because the cost of somebody taking the time to do a data change will outweigh the benefits of solving a non-problem (as most passengers will check their journey before travelling)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Because the cost of somebody taking the time to do a data change will outweigh the benefits of solving a non-problem (as most passengers will check their journey before travelling)

And given that literally the only reason to go to Berney Arms is leisure (a walk, basically), they could always go for a walk somewhere else in the area. It probably takes fares from Yarmouth anyway, so if you can't do the last bit you've not really lost anything.

The exception to that is an enthusiast going specifically to go to Berney Arms, but they'd check, not just turn up, and they'd not want to go there on the theoretical RRB anyway.

 

[Tio Terry]

Same as when the line was shut for 18mths during resignalling. Berney Arms is temporarily closed. No alternative travel is offered. It's a pleasant walk on a nice day.

It's a pity they couldn't have managed to do the relaying during the 18 months the line was closed.

When I first worked on that line way back in 1964 the Pway staff used to ride their bikes along the cess to get to wherever they needed to go. Perhaps a Rail Replacement Bike service? (just kidding!)

 

[dk1]

It's a pity they couldn't have managed to do the relaying during the 18 months the line was closed.

When I first worked on that line way back in 1964 the Pway staff used to ride their bikes along the cess to get to wherever they needed to go. Perhaps a Rail Replacement Bike service? (just kidding!)

The relaying is not taking place along the Berney line. It's near Cantley.

 

[philthetube]

Maybe the family had walked 7 or 8 miles already, as I understand the story the problem was a cancellation on the day, not planned engineering works, so they were entitled to transport, and all the additional walking may have been beyond them.

 

[PeterC]

Because the cost of somebody taking the time to do a data change will outweigh the benefits of solving a non-problem (as most passengers will check their journey before travelling)

If it is such a big deal to make a change like that then, speaking from over 30 years experience in the IT industry, the system design must be totally f****d!

 

[Ianno87]

If it is such a big deal to make a change like that then, speaking from over 30 years experience in the IT industry, the system design must be totally f****d!

Even if it only takes 5 minutes, that's not really worth it when it might only save confusion for a single passenger.

 

[Tio Terry]

The relaying is not taking place along the Berney line. It's near Cantley.

OK, but would it not have made sense to do the Cantley relaying whilst there was also the resignalling disruptions?

 

[dk1]

OK, but would it not have made sense to do the Cantley relaying whilst there was also the resignalling disruptions?

They did at the time but this is another relaying exercise. The bridge replacement at Postwick is still to be done as was postponed during the resignalling due to inclement weather. If you recall the relaying done then removed the longstanding 30mph TSR from Buckenham to Cantley on the down.

 

[jopsuk]

relaying may not have been possible during re-signalling, as access for work trains would surely have been awkward, especially if they didn't want trains on the lines that might disrupt equipment being fitted or under test

 

[James H]

Roger French has been to Berney Arms - and there are signs of life at the pub too:

Walking Wherryman’s Way

Friday 18th September 2020 Wherryman’s Way is an eight-and-a-half-mile footpath along the north side of the River Yare between Great Yarmouth and Reedham. Half way along the River Waveney joi…

busandtrainuser.com

Wherryman’s Way is an eight-and-a-half-mile footpath along the north side of the River Yare between Great Yarmouth and Reedham. Half way along the River Waveney joins – at Berney Arms, famed for its no-road-access-isolated station, closed pub and disused windmill.

Licensing application [PDF]

https://www.broadland.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/6194/barney_arms.pdf

 

[38Cto15E]

Maybe GA should buy some Everglades Airboats to overcome the Berny Arms problems.

 

[crablab]

Maybe you could convert some of the spare Mk4s into pontoons?