Swanage Railway announce 2023 Wareham service

[JGurney]

Rail Advent are reporting that there will be a Wareham - Swanage service from April to Sept this summer: https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2023/0...ne-into-the-heart-of-the-isle-of-purbeck.html

 

[yorksrob]

This is good news ! Tried out their DMU at xmas and it was splendid !

 

[James H]

Operated by West Coast Railways using the Swanage Railway’s own DMUs, so the plan to become a TOC in their own right hasn’t yet come to fruition.

 

[Cymroglan]

This is fantastic news, but with the first train out of Wareham at 11.19, I shall continue to travel to Swanage via train and bus. I want to spend a full day at the seaside. Shame they couldn’t provide a train a couple of hours earlier.

 

[alf]

Full marks to J Gurney, post 1, & Rail advent for bringing the news so quickly.
J Gurney’s posted only a minute or after the official swanage email was sent out.

I hope it is a success & all that. It deserves to be.

Prior to Covid when there was a summer of services I enjoyed a ride from Wareham to Swanage & back with a class 33 crunching & crushing the lush vegetation on the Network Rail down line to Worgret...and back again when we used the bi directional down line to get back up to Wareham.

We couldn’t work out why the tree branches hadn’t been beaten back by the very regular & much faster hourly emus to Weymouth.

 

[James H]

Somehow my memory was that the first train from Wareham had been earlier during the 2017 trial but checking the timetable on the Wayback Machine actually it was 11.15 in 2017 compared to 11.19 in 2023 so not much difference.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Some excerpts from Swanage Railway's announcement:

Trial Train Service From Wareham Main Line Into The Heart 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 into the heart of the Isle of Purbeck - thanks to working in partnership.

Operating from April to September, 2023, tickets for the service will also be available from main line train operating company South Western Railway so its passengers can add tickets for Corfe Castle and Swanage to their main line tickets.
[...]
The trial service will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 4 April to 10 September, 2023, with the first train departing Wareham at 11.19am and the last train leaving Swanage for Wareham at 4.20pm – giving visitors the opportunity to spend four hours in Swanage or Corfe Castle. The timetable is subject to change on special event days.
[...]
The four trains a day service from Wareham will be formed of a three-carriage heritage Class 117 diesel multiple unit that can have a one-carriage heritage Class 121 diesel multiple unit added at busy times, giving a total of 292 seats.
[...]

It's running for for a longer period than I expected - not just the high summer months, but rather it's getting going the week before Easter. I make it 92 operating days.

No info on fares yet but tickets will be available from this Monday (13 March) so we'll definitely know by then.
As pointed out by Train Boy below, the fares are already shown on the Swanage Railway's website.

 

[341o2]

Operated by West Coast Railways using the Swanage Railway’s own DMUs, so the plan to become a TOC in their own right hasn’t yet come to fruition.

I am just glad to see the service going ahead after all the recent problems

 

[Train Boy]

Timings available here on RTT.

Fares appear to already be advertised on Swanage's website.


£10.00 for Wareham to Norden/Corfe return. £8.00 for single.
£25.00 Wareham to Swanage return (inc. Herston/Harmans). £20.00 for single.

With the £2 bus fare scheme (if it applies to the Purbeck Breezer), it will be interesting to see the loadings - even with the usual fares on the Breezer, which I understand is roughly £8 Wareham to Swanage return.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Timings available here on RTT.

Fares appear to already be advertised on Swanage's website.


£10.00 for Wareham to Norden/Corfe return. £8.00 for single.
£25.00 Wareham to Swanage return (inc. Herston/Harmans). £20.00 for single.

With the £2 bus fare scheme (if it applies to the Purbeck Breezer), it will be interesting to see the loadings - even with the usual fares on the Breezer, which I understand is roughly £8 Wareham to Swanage return.

The £2 fare does indeed apply to the Purbeck Breezer bus routes, as the operator morebus (part of Go South Coast) are participating. And I think you're broadly right re the normal return bus fare from Wareham to Swanage (morebus had a single & return fare finder on their website, but have taken it down whilst the £2 fare scheme is live).

I can imagine the Swanage Railway people perhaps letting out a slightly exasperated sigh when the £2 bus fare was extended to the end of June!

Another price comparison is with the cost of parking at what used to be called Norden park & ride, but has now (I think slightly oddly) been renamed Purbeck Park - the price for a day is £4. This large car park is just north of Corfe Castle and is next to Norden station, which is northern terminus of Swanage Railway's regular services.

 

[joystick]

20 quid for a single is a bit steep.

 

[Falcon1200]

This is great news, I will certainly be using the service, and do not begrudge paying whatever is required to operate it, and of course keep the heritage railway part running too.

 

[Bletchleyite]

20 quid for a single is a bit steep.

Perhaps it gives a more realistic indication of what branch line fares would have to cost without subsidy.

 

[James H]

For comparison, during the 2017 trial it was £9 single and £15 return.

That's a 122 per cent increase in the single fare.

(Fair enough to an extent given that the 2017 service didn't cover its costs, and also presumably part of the point of the trials is to experiment with different price points. Undoubtedly a difficult balance to strike to avoid cannibalising the Swanage-Norden steam service)

 

[A0]

The reality is the pricing means that for families, it's deeply unattractive.

For a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children) it's going to be £ 75 from Wareham, compared to £ 49.50 from Nordern plus £ 4 parking. And as others have pointed out the Purbeck Breezer is much cheaper as well

So whilst it will no doubt get used by a few hardcore enthusiasts and those who want the mileage or a ride on a heritage DMU on the mainline, for the vast majority it's not going to be attractive.

 

[Techniquest]

Count me out at those prices! It would be a nice little novelty to do the track from Wareham to Norden, but I absolutely don't value that enough to pay out that sort of money.

 

[yorksrob]

I see the return to Swanage (from Wareham) is £25, which while pricey for a similar distance on the regional railway, I'd be happy to pay for the combination of direct rail from the national network, heritage traction and the destination itself.

The single I'd probably give a miss, but then I'd be unlikely to do a single trip anyway.

 

[notverydeep]

For comparison, during the 2017 trial it was £9 single and £15 return.

That's a 122 per cent increase in the single fare.

(Fair enough to an extent given that the 2017 service didn't cover its costs, and also presumably part of the point of the trials is to experiment with different price points. Undoubtedly a difficult balance to strike to avoid cannibalising the Swanage-Norden steam service)

Inflation since 2017 (RPI Jan 2017 to Jan 2023) would give 2017 fares of £12.20 single and £20.36 return at 2023 prices. Is the intention to offer through fares from other National Rail stations, perhaps if so these will be better value?

 

[Trainlog]

Out of curiosity, can we have a poll on who would use the new service to Wareham when visiting this year?

 

[341o2]

Inflation since 2017 (RPI Jan 2017 to Jan 2023) would give 2017 fares of £12.20 single and £20.36 return at 2023 prices. Is the intention to offer through fares from other National Rail stations, perhaps if so these will be better value?

Yes, there is through ticketing with any other SWT ticket purchased at the same time.

 

[Titfield]

Yes, there is through ticketing with any other SWT ticket purchased at the same time.

Interesting. Does "through ticketing" (their words) suggest that railcard discounts etc will be available? My understanding is that through ticketing means one ticket whereas add on ticketing means two tickets. There are considerable implications with through ticketing as opposed to add on ticketing.

Certainly hope it will be successful but at those prices I do wonder if it will attract sufficient patronage.

This is fantastic news, but with the first train out of Wareham at 11.19, I shall continue to travel to Swanage via train and bus. I want to spend a full day at the seaside. Shame they couldn’t provide a train a couple of hours earlier.

I believe that this is a constraint caused by keeping the operation within a single duty hours.

 

[Deepgreen]

Perhaps it gives a more realistic indication of what branch line fares would have to cost without subsidy.

Indeed, but will people pay it? Perhaps almost all would want a return anyway.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Mar 2023 ==

Out of curiosity, can we have a poll on who would use the new service to Wareham when visiting this year?

Will they accept Privs?! Yes, though, I would.

 

[williamn]

Was just looking into this and it's a shame that the timetable doesn't seem to dovetail with trains from London - i.e. trains on a saturday from London arrive 10.27 or 11.28, so it's a long wait for the 11.19. I know it's not all about London but you'd think a lot of potential custom will be coming from that direction.

There's probably a good reason, but again, that and the fare make it unattractive and lessen the point of through ticketing.

 

[Timetraveller]

Maybe you were looking on a Saturday when the trains are diverted as one an hour. Normally the 0835 from London arrives at 1048. The heritage train should arrive at Wareham at 1105 so not that much of waiting time at a historic listed station.

 

[williamn]

Maybe you were looking on a Saturday when the trains are diverted as one an hour. Normally the 0835 from London arrives at 1048. The heritage train should arrive at Wareham at 1105 so not that much of waiting time at a historic listed station.

You are right, I must have been. 31 mins still quite a long connection though no matter how lovely the station!

 

[Titfield]

You are right, I must have been. 31 mins still quite a long connection though no matter how lovely the station!

Well it may be lovely visually, but the toilets and waiting room (up platform) are only open when the ticket office (which includes a small waiting area) is open. Due to staff retirement (and a ban on recruitment) the ticket office had had very much reduced opening hours over the past few months. There is now only one TVM the second TVM having been removed some time ago.

In 2017 Swanage Railway had a ticket caravan in the car park, however the newly installed cycle rack now occupies that location. I very much doubt that SWR will allow SRC access to either the ticket office or the toilets or indeed whether SRC will be issuing tickets at wareham Perhaps it will be on train only. Lets hope the internet connectivity has improved.

 

[Wychwood93]

The bus is also faster!

 

[James H]

Due to staff retirement (and a ban on recruitment) the ticket office had had very much reduced opening hours over the past few months

It was reported in the latest Swanage Railway Magazine that the recently retired SWR Wareham booking clerk now volunteers in the same role in the ticket office at Corfe Castle!

 

[williamn]

Does anyone know how the through ticketing will work? I presume they won't have period returns, though these would be useful!

 

[Joe Paxton]

Well it may be lovely visually, but the toilets and waiting room (up platform) are only open when the ticket office (which includes a small waiting area) is open. Due to staff retirement (and a ban on recruitment) the ticket office had had very much reduced opening hours over the past few months. There is now only one TVM the second TVM having been removed some time ago.
[...]

There's also no cafe or kiosk at the station, and nothing in the immediate vicinity (there is a SPAR shop 5 minutes walk away that sells hot drinks, but it's existence is far from obvious when you're at the station).

Perhaps Swanage Railway could consider laying something welcoming on in this department?

The bus is also faster!

Just checked and you're right, at least as per the scheduled timings.

RTT has Wareham to Swanage taking either 41 or 48 minutes by SR train, meanwhile the bus is timetabled for 39 minutes for much of the day (though sometimes less than that) from Wareham station to Swanage station.

The buses are of course liable to get caught up in traffic, especially during peak season.

Does anyone know how the through ticketing will work? I presume they won't have period returns, though these would be useful!

I was rather hoping that the quoted prices for SR-only journeys are period returns, rather than just day returns.

Of course how through ticketing works is another matter.