Ordinary passengers using heritage railways as public transport.

[stadler]

Do any heritage railways ever get used by people as public transport?

Obviously the main purpose of them is for enthusiasts and people who want a day out and they are specifically visiting to ride on the heritage railway.

But I am curious if any heritage railways ever get used by ordinary passengers as public transport to get somewhere.

Some heritage railways serve rural hamlets and villages which have no bus services or very limited bus services so i wonder if any local residents use any heritage railways to get to the shops sometimes. It is probably rare but i would be curious if this ever happens.

I would be interested if anyone knows of any cases where heritage railways do see usage by ordinary passengers as public transport to get somewhere?

 

[bleeder4]

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is fairly well used by locals as public transport. The Local Residents Railcard that the railway sells gives locals a 50% discount.

 

[kje7812]

Do any heritage railways ever get used by people as public transport? Obviously the main purpose of them is for enthusiasts and people who want a day out and they are specifically visiting to ride on the heritage railway. But i am curious if any heritage railways ever get used by ordinary passengers as public transport to get somewhere. Some heritage railways serve rural hamlets and villages which have no bus services or very limited bus services so i wonder if any local residents use any heritage railways to get to the shops sometimes. It is probably rare but i would be curious if this ever happens. I would be interested if anyone knows of any cases where heritage railways do see usage by ordinary passengers as public transport to get somewhere?

On the Severn Valley Railway, quite a few locals have shareholders passes and thus catch the train to do shopping. For instance, getting on at Country Park Halt and going to Bridgnorth.
Before covid, I remember at guy who would regularly get on at Highley going to Bridgnorth. He visited his girlfriend on the weekend and there were no buses on a Sunday.
Additionally, there are plenty of passengers who have walked along the river and decide to get the train back rather than walk. Arley to Bewdley is fairly common.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Do any heritage railways ever get used by people as public transport? Obviously the main purpose of them is for enthusiasts and people who want a day out and they are specifically visiting to ride on the heritage railway. But i am curious if any heritage railways ever get used by ordinary passengers as public transport to get somewhere. Some heritage railways serve rural hamlets and villages which have no bus services or very limited bus services so i wonder if any local residents use any heritage railways to get to the shops sometimes. It is probably rare but i would be curious if this ever happens. I would be interested if anyone knows of any cases where heritage railways do see usage by ordinary passengers as public transport to get somewhere?

I used to use the K&WVR with my eldest son on a Saturday morning when he was a toddler. Give his mum a lie in, drive into Oxenhope, first train to Keighley, do the shopping and have breakfast, home for 11ish. Sadly we lived just outside the area of the local residents card so couldn’t benefit from that

 

[Titfield]

In Swanage quite a few locals at one time took out Premium Life Membership of the Trust which gave them free use. Many used it to go between Swanage and Corfe Castle for "domestic" purposes. I have used it to go last summer between Swanage and Wareham to connect to a service for London Waterloo.

 

[InkyScrolls]

On multiple occasions I've had passengers board at Keighley after a long train journey from elsewhere in the country and use the KWVR as a connection to travel to holiday cottages in Haworth. On one occasion a young Japanese lady, evidently unaware of the line's 'heritage' status, expressed her surprise to me that we still used steam locomotives in the UK!

 

[kje7812]

On multiple occasions I've had passengers board at Keighley after a long train journey from elsewhere in the country and use the KWVR as a connection to travel to holiday cottages in Haworth. On one occasion a young Japanese lady, evidently unaware of the line's 'heritage' status, expressed her surprise to me that we still used steam locomotives in the UK!

On a related note, at Kidderminster we regularly get people thinking the SVR station is the mainline one. Not so often now after the rebuild of the mainline one making it a bigger and more obvious, but it still happens.

 

[AM9]

More a question than another example, but is the Dartmouth Steam Railway used for some journeys in preference to local bus services.? The timetabled travel time is competitve 25m vs 19m.

 

[Amlag]

There are local rail journey flows, mostly holiday makers, on the WSR eg
at Blue Anchor, Watchet and Doniford to and from mainly Minehead.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've used the Spa Valley as public transport once, to get from Groombridge (was camping at the climbers' campsite) back to the main network at Eridge.

I've also used the Wensleydale for that purpose a few times.

 

[Vespa]

East Lancashire Railway have local residents railcard so there must be a demand for it.

 

[renegademaster]

RHDR gets used as public transport by tourists at the caravan parks. The summer timetable is almost as good as 101 THE WAVE

 

[Amlag]

More a question than another example, but is the Dartmouth Steam Railway used for some journeys in preference to local bus services.? The timetabled travel time is competitve 25m vs 19m.

This rly / run by the highly commercial and profitable Dart Valley Rly Co., has ceased serving and thus providing opportunities for local travel to and from Goodrington and Churston stns and also at the new Greenway Halt which was partly externally funded by the National Trust.

 

[randyrippley]

Didn't the Ratty in the past have a regular school contract?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is fairly well used by locals as public transport.

I've certainly used the K+WVR on a one-way journey from Skipton to Manchester, thus avoiding going anywhere near Bradford (or Leeds). Keighley to Haworth and then the B3 bus up over the hill and down into Hebden Bridge.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I wonder if some use the Welsh Highland Railway to walk up Snowdon? I doubt it's many though as the Ranger path is one of the least popular (and fairly boring) and their railtour style approach to timetables doesn't fit well with it.

 

[Deepgreen]

On a related note, at Kidderminster we regularly get people thinking the SVR station is the mainline one. Not so often now after the rebuild of the mainline one making it a bigger and more obvious, but it still happens.

One wonders how such people manage to get through life...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 May 2024 ==

In April 1980 I was staying in a camping coach at Goathland with my parents, and we had a heavy snowfall. The NYMR laid on a DMU service for locals as many roads were closed.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

I've seen a few people with shopping bags get on the Isle of Man Steam Railway and Manx Electric Railway take out magazines and start reading them as soon as they get on board.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 May 2024 ==

Didn't the Ratty in the past have a regular school contract?

As did the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch

 

[Essan]

I've used the Severn Valley Railway in that way - allows for a nice day out walking along the Severn and then back by train (or, vice versa). The fact I travelled behind a steam train in an old pullman coach was just an added bonus.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Some are difficult to categorise. If you do a walk which uses a preserved railway to complete a circuit, dos that count? I suppiose it wpould if you would have done the same thing with an NR train

The Snowdon Railway is probably used by some to descend who had been planning to walk down. Certainly we did when we went up there with my father many years ago and the weather closed in - my sister was only about eight.

Much more recently, had we descended a little faster we could have used the WHR to get back to the car at Rhydd Ddu, having come down by the Snowdon Ranger path because of high winds, but the train passed through about ten minutes before we did so we had to walk along the road.

We have done walk/train trips using the mid-Hants, RHDR, Swanage, IoWSR and NYMR. We also used the West Somerset to get to the start of the South West Coast Path from Taunton (bus from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard)

We were going to use the Llangollen Railway last year to complete a circuit, but I misread the timetable.

The Landmark Trust's holiday cottage at Coed y Bleddiau is accessible only by mountain path or the Festiniog Railway. Rail tickets are included in the rental price.

Holiday at Coed y Bleiddiau in Gwynedd | The Landmark Trust

Book your stay at Coed y Bleiddiau, a small railway cottage high up in the Snowdonia National Park.

www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Here it is during restoration.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Much more recently, had we descended a little faster we could have used the WHR to get back to the car at Rhydd Ddu, having come down by the Snowdon Ranger path because of high winds, but the train passed through about ten minutes before we did so we had to walk along the road.

There's also a bus service along there (S3). Though it might be a summer only one, I forget.

 

[DarloRich]

My mum has taken to using the NYMR for a day out to Whitby. With thier annual pass they say it is cheaper/easier to drive to Grosmont, park there and use the NYMR service than carry on driving to Whitby, park up on the top of the hill and walk down to town/seaside! They take the first service of the day and come back on the mid afternoon one so they miss the crowds and are home for tea!

Not jealous.................

 

[norbitonflyer]

There's also a bus service along there (S3). Though it might be a summer only one, I forget.

There is, it goes right roubnd the massif, but there was no bus due for several hours (well, there was, but it was going the wrong way so would have taken an awfully long time to get where we had left the car)

 

[Ksp]

Some are difficult to categorise. If you do a walk which uses a preserved railway to complete a circuit, dos that count? I suppiose it wpould if you would have done the same thing with an NR train

The Snowdon Railway is probably used by some to descend who had been planning to walk down. Certainly we did when we went up there with my father many years ago and the weather closed in - my sister was only about eight.

Much more recently, had we descended a little faster we could have used the WHR to get back to the car at Rhydd Ddu, having come down by the Snowdon Ranger path because of high winds, but the train passed through about ten minutes before we did so we had to walk along the road.

We have done walk/train trips using the mid-Hants, RHDR, Swanage, IoWSR and NYMR. We also used the West Somerset to get to the start of the South West Coast Path from Taunton (bus from Taunton to Bishops Lydeard)

We were going to use the Llangollen Railway last year to complete a circuit, but I misread the timetable.

The Landmark Trust's holiday cottage at Coed y Bleddiau is accessible only by mountain path or the Festiniog Railway. Rail tickets are included in the rental price.

Holiday at Coed y Bleiddiau in Gwynedd | The Landmark Trust

Book your stay at Coed y Bleiddiau, a small railway cottage high up in the Snowdonia National Park.

www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Here it is during restoration.

Will definitely have to visit in the future looks fab!

 

[Enthusiast]

RHDR gets used as public transport by tourists at the caravan parks. The summer timetable is almost as good as 101 THE WAVE

And from 1977 to 2015 it ran the "school train" to transport pupils to and from the Marsh Academy (formerly Southlands Comprehensive School) in New Romney.

 

[Jan Mayen]

At the Bluebell Railway Branch Line Gala this last weekend, I'm aware someone who was out for a walk (and didn't know about the Gala) finished their walk at Kingscote and purchased a single back to East Grinstead.

 

[Rescars]

The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway provided the only link with the outside world for a fortnight in 2016 when the road between Leadhills and Wanlockhead was closed for repairs.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Didn't the West Somerset Railway get into a dispute with the bus driver's union some decades ago over their plans to operate regularly into Taunton? The bus drivers (who because of some quirk were in the National Union of Railwaymen) argued that it would abstract passengers and put their jobs at risk.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway provided the only link with the outside world for a fortnight in 2016 when the road between Leadhills and Wanlockhead was closed for repairs.

And the Talyllyn ran a Bus Replacement Train when the road up the valley was closed for roadworks a few years ago

 

[Deepgreen]

Didn't the West Somerset Railway get into a dispute with the bus driver's union some decades ago over their plans to operate regularly into Taunton? The bus drivers (who because of some quirk were in the National Union of Railwaymen) argued that it would abstract passengers and put their jobs at risk.

Sounds slightly like shades of 'The Titfield Thunderbolt'!