Anyone enlighten me on why the West Somerset seem to have little or no interest in running into Taunton station? Surely that would make perfect sense, any railway with a decent mainline connection has to see a massive increase in visitor numbers..
As far as I know there would be no need to run on the mainline as there is still space for an independent track to be laid parallel to the big railway.. and isnt the bay platform at the south end of Taunton station big enough to take 5 carriages?
Bishops Lydeard is a lovely little station but not a great place to get to, Norton Fitzwarren can hardly compare to Taunton..
Please extend to Taunton, in the name of progress and easier accessibility.. please!!!
It seems so simple and many of us have often wondered why it has never happened. To find out why we need to go back in time
This subject has been aired on a regular basis. Many of the replies to this thread have touched on the main issues over the years.
It is true the 1970s layout at Norton Fitzwarren, with the Minehead line continuing into the Up Relief would have allowed WSR DMUs to access Platform Six at Taunton Station. And that was the original plan of the then WSR Company. The LRO for the Minehead Branch still allows for WSR DMUs to run at max 40mph, although this has never been permitted in the WSR's Rule Book(s).
However, the plan was scuppered by the NUR who effectively blacked any WSR service on BR tracks due to the NUR's belief that a rail service between Minehead and Taunton would put NUR bus drivers jobs at risk (historically the Minehead bus service was manned by NUR members due to the GWR/Western National roots of the service). That action (or inaction) by the NUR, coupled with the WSR's own financial difficulties, led to the official laying-aside of plans to run a regular service between Taunton and Minehead. Never abandoned the idea, though.
Years later the NUR (or its successor) lifted the ban but by then it was too late for the WSR. It's own financial rebuilding was still underway under a very carefully constructed plan. And of course the Up Relief had long gone - some of the trackbed used for a realigned Up Fast - although thankfully BR had converted the last few yards of their bit of the Minehead Branch into a siding for use by Taunton Cider. And thus the connection was, just, hanging on by the width of a fishplate or two.
When further mainline upgrading was undertaken, the WSR was encouraged to secure the mainline connection by making a large financial contribution towards a better arrangement at Norton Fitzwarren Junction, with Taunton Cider now defunct. The WSR, by then in a better financial position, made that contribution which nowadays allows the regular weekday ballast trains to access the WSR.
It also allows the occasional passenger services (charters, ECS, shuttles and the trial Bristol-Minehead service which lasted one summer) and other departmental or freight trains (such as the various stone train contracts).
The WSR's Draft Ten Year Plan does indeed perpetuate the idea of improving the services to and from the WSR. Several options remain open and the WSR is actively involved in regular discussions with the authorities and TOCs. The most likely scenario will be the extending of a service currently terminating at Taunton down to Bishops Lydeard. The WSR's plans to remodel the trackwork at the southern end of Bishops Lydeard Station would allow a TOC train (up to four coaches) to terminate in Platform Three (currently no more than a siding) allowing cross-platform transfer to a WSR train. A more ambitious scenario would see a TOC train run right down to Minehead and back (but that raises path occupancy issues as the WSR still has two long, 6 mile, sections in its near 23 mile length)
It goes without saying that nothing will happen if the sums don't add up. A loss-making Taunton service will soon collapse and if we are not careful it would take the WSR with it.
The above is just my own take on things and I hope this helps a bit.
Steve
Actively working on the WSR since 1976
