Love It Local speaks to Martin Trott, Passenger Services Manager...
Swanage Railway to Wareham service
Q. What’s happening now with the trial rail service to Wareham?
We have now completed the 2 year funded trial service, whilst we are still looking at the data, initial conclusions are the service did not over its costs.
Q. Was the line to and from Wareham promoted enough do you think?
Yes, our colleagues at South Western Railway assisted with station and digital advertising on the rail network as well as our own leaflet, poster and digital advertising
Q. Any plans for the future of the Wareham link?
Any future service is likely to require external funding.
Concentrating on events and experiences
Q.It seems that you’re now concentrating on events to help with the overall funding of the service?
Yes, coming up we have the Classic & Steam Vehicle Show, the Fish n’ Chips Special, Taster Train Driver Experiences, Autumn Steam Gala and the Polar Express is returning at the end of the year.
THE POLAR EXPRESS ™ Train Ride
Q. The Polar Express was very popular last Christmas for you wasn’t it?
Yes, the actors on the trains gave fantastic performances, and we had great feedback. Tickets are being sold in house this year.
(Link to Love It Local magazine’s THE POLAR EXPRESS ™ competition to win tickets)
Q. Do events create lots of extra work?
Yes, but is worth it, and we need to add more – to give people more of an experience – it’s the growing trend for heritage railways. So in future there will be a regular calendar of events, and we’re already setting up next year’s.. We have a good group of volunteers who do our social media that will be helping advertise the new events for us – so watch this space!
Swanage Railway is kept on track by a team of staff and around 400 Volunteers!
Q. How many of the trains are actually owned by the Railway?
At the moment we have the fantastic LSWR T3 that we restored and went into service last October. The rest are actually on lease from elsewhere. At the Autumn Steam Gala we have a couple of special visitors!
Q. On the subject of restoration and maintenance, this must greatly rely on your team of staff and volunteers?
Yes, it’s very labour intensive and requirements are high. We have around 30 paid staff spread over various departments. But then we have around 400 volunteers in total with each department managing their own volunteers! Many have been with us for some years, and I’m sure that volunteering at a steam railway is certainly the pull for many of them! The numbers fluctuate, but we had 40 new volunteers this year. Contact us if you have some free time!
Q. What about the skills needed in some areas of maintenance for example?
A wide range of skill sets is required on the railway from driving trains and repairing to repairing fences. There are many skill set required to keep us running.
Q. Do you meet up with other Heritage Railways?
We have regular meetings with other heritage railways to share our experiences, issues, etc. For example through the new ‘Southern Six Alliance’ which is made up of the Bluebell Railway, the Kent & East Sussex Railway, the Mid Hants Railway, the Spa Valley Railway, the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and the Swanage Railway.
There’s also the Heritage Railway Association that we also have regular meetings with. This s a UK-wide body that represents, protects and promotes the interests of heritage railways, preservation groups, etc.
Q. How do you feel its going for Swanage Railway now?
I feel that we are turning a corner now, but of course our immediate aim is to get to the peak numbers of visitors we enjoyed pre covid, especially around 2017 / 2018. The weather also affects numbers, so for example hot days customers enjoy the beach rather than a steam train ride!
With heavy rainfall, luckily we don’t have a huge issue with flooding, but we have culverts and drains which are regularly maintained.
All photos by Andrew PM Wright, courtesy of Swanage Railway.
If you would like to volunteer at Swanage Railway email: iwanttovolunteer@swanagerailway.co.uk or find more details on the website at: swanagerailwaytrust.org/volunteering.
