If that’s true, then how do other major railways manage with lower paid headcount and more reliance on volunteers?
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Changes to NYMR membership
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Kite159
Veteran Member
The issue with price it high and discount is when potential customers start looking for prices, they will see the headline high price and decide it's not worth it without considering they could get 50% off by entering a random promotional code
mike57
Established Member
I suspect other major railways have a different approach to volunteers. I personally think the NYMR are on a path towards a 'commercial' operation. That is their decision. I suspect the latest changes around membership are part of this move. If they can make it pay, fine, but there are awful lot of possible bumps along the road which might result in a business failure. Leisure and related businesses are always at a higher risk than other sectors, the market is fickle, and if you are mostly paid staff the options are much more limited if things start to go wrong.
Skymonster
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Most volunteers are committed to their causes, but are not committed in the same way as people who rely on what they do to earn money and pay their bills. It means volunteers have a greater propensity to cancel their duties at short notice if something else comes up. NYMR is used by visitors as a means of getting to places such as Whitby rather than just existing to offer a ride up and down a line. I suggest this means in needs to deliver a level of service resilience that could be jeopardised by relying solely on volunteers. It is a difficult balancing act but income - from ticket sales and memberships - needs to reflect this.
mike57
Established Member
I agree, and I think this is the reason they are heading in the direction they are. Not saying its wrong, but its a different business model. I suspect the 'enthusiast' stuff will be kept/moved to the end or start of the season, the steam gala is last weekend of September anyway, and other things have tended to be early spring or autumn, with only the diesel gala being in summer. That is why I said earlier in this thread that I could see the operation becoming more like the Paignton and Dartmouth. The NYMR are a big part of the local tourist economy, they provide an interesting way to get to Whitby if you are staying on the south side of the moors anywhere near Pickering.
NYMR is used as you suggest, but other railways also manage to provide a timetable with much higher levels of volunteering. That leads me to the conclusion that the issue is cultural
Fife coaster
Member
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Definitely agree it’s moving to a more private commercial model like Paignton and Dartmouth you can definitely see a change at the NYMR there’s not the same variety of rolling stock I couldn’t believe the amount of locos and stock the great central railway had compared to NYMR. And the volunteers remind the great central remind of how it used to be at the NYMR. even the Pullman services have been cut right back no hardly any Pickering pullmans or evening pullmans a lot of the old Pullman volunteers and staff are now gone and it shows.
I frequently used the NYMR for many years after walking the Rail Trail from Goathland to Grosmont. The return is uphill so the train was the favourite but now there are no tickets available for that journey.
Likewise a ride to the halt and walk back to Levisham is no longer available as a single journey.
I realise they were not very much income wise but I was far from the only one to make these trips and last time my party walked both ways, good for our health maybe, but not good for NYMR funds.
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It is of course Newtondale Halt. Senior moment.
Likewise a ride to the halt and walk back to Levisham is no longer available as a single journey.
I realise they were not very much income wise but I was far from the only one to make these trips and last time my party walked both ways, good for our health maybe, but not good for NYMR funds.
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It is of course Newtondale Halt. Senior moment.
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mike57
Established Member
I had a dig around the NYMR website and found the 'one stop' singles here: https://www.nymr.co.uk/plan-your-visit/fares/ right at the bottom of the page
The cheaper price is the 'school holiday' fare
That’s good if a bit expensive for a 3mile trip up the hill, or at least it is for this old pensioner.
I am sure the last time we asked at Grosmont a couple of years ago we were knocked back but hopefully that is sorted.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
I am sure I have seen point to point singles offered. Certainly Grosmont to Whitby.
mike57
Established Member
I get the feeling that they would probably prefer not to sell them.
Of course you can get Northern tickets, but you cannot use these on the NYMR services, and vica versa.
The short hops are only a small market, but if you dont cater for them you are leaving cash on the table, and its not although the extra passengers result in a higher operating cost.
DarloRich
Veteran Member
you cant go on the steam train on northern. The sprinter is quite as much of an attraction
nanstallon
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I've never seen such a complicated fares table. Needs a degree in Higher Mathematics plus a calendar!
DarloRich
Veteran Member
Just had my membership email from NYMR indicating that life members signed before 1st April 2026 continue with discounts as before
Belperpete
Established Member
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This isn't public transport, the fares have to reflect the costs of running a heritage operation. And someone only travelling part way is using a seat that could potentially have been sold to someone making a full line return.
Do you know why you were not sold a ticket? Was it because the train was already full? I know some NYMR services can be quite busy, with passengers unable to board at Pickering.
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Railways like the Bluebell, GCR and SVR have major population centres on their doorsteps to draw volunteers from. The likes of the Talyllyn and Ffestiniog don't, but they are in areas where there is a significant amount of relatively cheap tourist accommodation on their doorsteps for volunteers to stay in. While the NYMR may be in a tourist area, there doesn't seem to be the same amount of cheap accomodation available locally.
If you are having to be on shed at silly o'clock to prep an engine or coaching stock and/or having to stay late to put it to bed at the end of the day, each extra hour that you have to travel to get there and back soon adds up.
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I can’t recall after this time why the ticket did not happen. However the last time I did the trip it was walking both ways which benefits the pub at BeckHole halfway along the route.
SECR 65
Member
I appreciate this isn't quite relevant to the thread, but this is a slight exaggeration - the reason the Lewes - East Grinstead line closed in the first place is lack of traffic due to not serving any actual places!
Lewes is, indeed, a town.
Barcombe station is right by the village - obviously no trains run there any more
Newick & Chailey was nowhere near either Newick nor Chailey
Sheffield Park was built to serve the Earl of Sheffield - not a massive population nearby
Horsted Keynes station is a mile from the village
West Hoathly does serve a village - ironically not reopened due to resident concerns!
Kingscote isn't near many houses - I don't know the area brilliantly though.
East Grinstead is a town.
That said, I do take your point, there are plenty of towns near enough the Bluebell e.g. Haywards Heath.