And who picks up the losses?
The Government. And hers why,
Every so often you hear about the NHS spending thousands (sometime hundreds of thousands) on trying a new drug in a clinical trial.
And somebody could quite rightly argue that if you have already got a drug to treat something and the NHS is as skint as it is then why spend money on a experiment? .
The thing is if that drug cures more people quicker so they could for example get back to work so putting money in to the system rather than taking it out on sickness benefits or at the very least they can be at hone rather than taking up a precious hospital bed then the government saves money which is good for the country in general.
So, at the moment we have a exploding population, we are skint so cant afford to build more roads and even if we could then we simply cant carry on concreting over are dwindling countryside to build a bypass to relieve the bypass that was originally built to relieve the bypass.
Meanwhile as I have said before there are numerous heritage railways that have all the infrastructure in place or nearly all and are just sitting there and that are either connected to the network, working towards a connection or if there was a cash incentive would push to connect that would be perfect for a Morning/Evening commuter service.
So, the deal would be: Run as an experiment for two years, the government gets all the ticket money between Minehed and Taunton. Go-Op get enough of the money back to cover their costs between Minehead and Taunton and the WSR are paid for wear and tear and any expense's they occur between Minehaed and Bishops Lydeard (basically not for profit).
The money is then put in a separate pot/bank account, then at the end of two year's if a loss has been made then the government covers it and we go back to bowing down to the car and smashing up the country side or if it has been break even then look at it closely and see if it can be tweaked to make it profitable.
But if it is profitable, including money saved on having to do less maintenance on the A39 and the cancellation of other road schemes around the country because the heritage railway can be used instead. Then the money is given as grant's/loans to other heritage railways so they can do what is necessary so they can run passenger services.
Mornings and evenings only? Look at the timetable of the 28 bus and it's more frequent during the day than in the "peaks"! Which suggest to me that the demand for a commuter-type service on the WSR is limited.
If I lived in Minehead and worked in Taunton and it was a choice between in the morning standing at a freezing cold bus stop in the rain waiting for a bus that might never turn up and then being chucked around as it stopped every five minutes and doing the reverse in the evening every day OR If I worked in Weston-Super-Mare, Bristol, Castle Cary, Exeter etc doing the same as above but having to get an earlier bus (as I couldn't risk it being late and missing my train), walk to the station in the rain/cold etc and again do the reverse in the evening every day OR get in to may car and drive there and back each day the car would win every time.
On the other hand if I could drive to Minehead station in the morning knowing my train would run at a set time and be there, get a nice cup of tea from the buffet, open my laptop and get on with some work on a warm comfortable train then if necessary when I get to Taunton simply step off the train, cross the platform and pick up my train to Weston-Super-Mare, Bristol etc. Then on the evening commute home perhaps relax by playing with my phone or just looking out of the window then the train would win every time.
As you said in post #356, a key target would be longer-distance (Butlins) holiday traffic, and those customers need to leave Minehead around 1000 and arrive there from 1600 which doesn't fit well with the heritage operation.
The morning kicking out time from Butlins is 10.00 so unless you get somebody saying: "I have payed for this room till 10.00 so im staying till 10.00" then I cant see many people throwing a tantrum if they have to leave at 9.30ish.
Also I would do the timetable so the LAST morning National rail service FROM Minehead would leave at say 9.59 with the FIRST WSR service from Minehead leaving at 10.00 essentially they would run nose to tail but the National rail service would quickly leave the WSR service behind as it would be faster and stop at less stations .
The afternoon arrival time for guests is 16.00 onwards so I would time it that the last WSR service from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead would arrive at Minehead at 17.00 with the first afternoon/evening National rail service arriving at Minehead at 17.01 again nose to tail with the WSR service. So, again unless you get somebody who says: "I have payed for this room from 16.00 so im having this room from 16.00" then I think most people wont mind missing 60 minutes of their holiday if they can get there and back on the train.
Also I expect Butlins would like it as instead of having everybody arrive at once they can have the car drivers arriving between 16.00 and 17.00 and the train passengers arriving from 17.00 onwards.
Another thing is that it could be a nice little earner for Butlins. Because what they could do is offer left luggage facilities then some people might arrive on the morning service's, leave their luggage, then because they haven't got a car to go out they stay on the camp and use (pay) for facilities (pool etc) and buy food and drink and vice versa some people instead of rushing out on the morning train, stay and again use the facilities and buy food and drink.
As my avatar might show, I am reasonably familiar with the KWVR which of all the heritage lines could plausibly offer a commuter service and already has a main-line connection. It hasn't been seriously suggested for years AFAIK, certainly not from within, despite the development of housing in Haworth (and Ingrow), and it would certainly be a more straightforward project than Minehead.
I have heard in a few different places in the past that the KWVR management are up for running passenger services so its strange it has never happened?.
Therefore like the heritage rail movement itself if one railway can show passenger services work then other's including the KWVR might follow?
Greater Bristol already goes to Portishead, Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare, Brean and Burnham. Can't see them going past all those via Taunton for a day trip to Minehead.
Greater Bristol already goes to Portishead, Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare, Brean and Burnham. Can't see them going past all those via Taunton for a day trip to Minehead.
Only one of these has currently got a railway and even when Portishead gets connected there is no beach and nothing touristy as far as I am aware?. Also if you don't have a car and you're only transport is a train or bus (as I have pointed out before about people in Birmingham/Midlands) then you have most probably done Weston-Super-Mare to death so would welcome somewhere different to go.
For Bristolians, Minehead is a holiday to Butlins.
If I lived in Bristol and was going on holiday to Butlins I would want to go somewhere completely different (Skegness for example), not just "down the road".
) so the location doesn't really matter. And, even when there is no traffic on the M5 Minehead is a good hour and a half from Bristol by road. Add some of the frequent congestion on the M5 and you are easily at a 2 hour journey. It may only be 40-odd miles as the crow flies, but its not as "local" as it may appear on the map.
