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How could heritage railways encourage more visitors to arrive by public transport?

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For a heritage railway to spend its own money worrying about its visitors emissions when its going to spew coal smoke constantly for the whole day is silly.
 
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InkyScrolls

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For a heritage railway to spend its own money worrying about its visitors emissions when its going to spew coal smoke constantly for the whole day is silly.
The amount of smoke produced by all steam locomotives in the country over the course of a year is less than that produced by a single power station in one day. It really isn't something to be concerned about.
 
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The amount of smoke produced by all steam locomotives in the country over the course of a year is less than that produced by a single power station in one day. It really isn't something to be worried about
neither is the drop in the ocean of people driving to heritage railways
 

Titfield

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The amount of smoke produced by all steam locomotives in the country over the course of a year is less than that produced by a single power station in one day. It really isn't something to be concerned about.
The emissions from coal burnt in the course of heritage steam operations has been discussed in the House of Commons Select Committee Report on Coal in the Tourism Sector.

It effectively accepts that such coal use and its emissions are de minimis in the grand scheme of things.
 

Krokodil

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neither is the drop in the ocean of people driving to heritage railways
It's not just about them driving to that one attraction on that one day. It's about whether they could also do without a car on the other 364 days. The more journeys you make convenient with public transport and/or active travel the more likely they will be to decide to abandon motoring entirely, saving 2.4 tonnes of CO2 per year per car removed from the roads. You need to get to the stage where virtually every activity they want to do is accessible in order to have that shift.

As the car-free population grows it will be increasingly important to attractions (particularly those near London and other major cities) that they should be accessible for those who do not own a car, lest they lose out on a growing part of the market.
 

lyndhurst25

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This.

In the case of the KWVR, there are a number of reasons around this decision:

1) The add on through ticket is only available where there is a Route Any Permitted Anytime or Off Peak Day Return fare. It is not available on Single, "Open" Returns, Advance or TOC Only, e.g Northern Only tickets. With the growing number of Advance and TOC only fares and changes in ticket types available for certain journeys, it is now the case that it isn't possible to get a through ticket from lots of places where they were traditionally sold. Thus their availability is poor and varied, making effective advertising difficult. I.e. They were no longer available from York, or Doncaster, but were from Sheffield and Leeds. For many other journeys within the region Advance tickets are becoming increasingly popular.

2) You cannot restrict the dates the product is available. There have been people turning up on days we are closed with the tickets. Whilst that is not the fault of the KWVR, it does inevitably reflect badly and cause confusion.

3) Following on from (2), it causes problems on Galas or Events when KWVR fares are increased.

4) With the advent of internet bookings for heritage railways many visitors can now get a better overall price by buying tickets separately. This is also better for the KWVR as we get all the income straight away.

The commercial decision is thus that overall it is in our interests to remove the ticket.


Of note however is that you can still get a 20% discount on normal days on the cost of a Rover by presenting a Transdev Treats Voucher. These are issued free of charge by bus drivers when buying your bus ticket on a Transdev bus service.

Not sure what the commercial arrangement is between the KWVR and Transdev buses, but have you looked into also extending the 20% discount to passengers who present a train ticket to Keighley? Wouldn’t that also mostly solve problems that you have listed?
 

nanstallon

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Reading Solent&Wessex -
3) Following on from (2), it causes problems on Galas or Events when KWVR fares are increased.

I remember some years ago, buying an inclusive ticket covering the main line train plus a preserved line, which I had better not name (not the K&WVR). I thought I had better check at the preserved line's ticket office at the earliest opportunity, that I didn't need to exchange my ticket, especially as it was a gala day. Being assured that my through ticket was valid, I went onto the train and a few minutes later somebody came into the coach I was sitting in, asking whether anybody was travelling on a through ticket from the main line. On answering that, I was told that I had to pay extra. OK, but not the most diplomatic way of doing things!

That said, through tickets do encourage people to use public transport to access a preserved railway, and I like the idea of a whole journey by rail, changing for the branch line.
 

30907

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Not sure what the commercial arrangement is between the KWVR and Transdev buses, but have you looked into also extending the 20% discount to passengers who present a train ticket to Keighley? Wouldn’t that also mostly solve problems that you have listed?
It's only 10% according to Transdev, and they are much rarer IME than NR through tickets
 

Parham Wood

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The East Somerset have arranged a bus service from Frome to Cranmore (and also from Shepton Mallet) for their gala next week 176/17. Timetable on their web site.
 

Solent&Wessex

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Sean Emmett

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I'm staying in Brum this weekend for the Vintage Trains charter to Carlisle with 5051 on Saturday.

On the Sunday I have planned to travel back to Bristol via Kidderminster and enjoy a day on the Severn Valley, and booked their day rover accordingly.

More than I bit disappointed to find out the first train from Snow Hill arrives Kiddy four minutes after the SVR train leaves.

Not exactly 'joined up' is it?!
 

TheTallOne

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Birmingham
I'm staying in Brum this weekend for the Vintage Trains charter to Carlisle with 5051 on Saturday.

On the Sunday I have planned to travel back to Bristol via Kidderminster and enjoy a day on the Severn Valley, and booked their day rover accordingly.

More than I bit disappointed to find out the first train from Snow Hill arrives Kiddy four minutes after the SVR train leaves.

Not exactly 'joined up' is it?!
It probably was joined up, then WMT changed the schedule

Maybe they’ve not realised, or not even considered it at all.

Or maybe it’s a ploy to get you to have breakfast there while you wait.
 

30907

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It probably was joined up, then WMT changed the schedule

Maybe they’ve not realised, or not even considered it at all.

Or maybe it’s a ploy to get you to have breakfast there while you wait.
Or maybe the SVR operates a 7-day base timetable rather than varying the first departure for Sundays only?
 

paul1609

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Or maybe the SVR operates a 7-day base timetable rather than varying the first departure for Sundays only?
Timetabling single track heritage railways is actually quite difficult. There will be a round trip minimum time because of passing other trains. It may be that loosing the connection for an average of 2.3 passengers on an early morning train from Snow Hill means a better connection for the 4.6 passengers that arrive on the second train. Of course it doesnt affect the 148 passengers that arrive by car and pay the car park charge :)
 

Trainlog

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Timetabling single track heritage railways is actually quite difficult. There will be a round trip minimum time because of passing other trains. It may be that loosing the connection for an average of 2.3 passengers on an early morning train from Snow Hill means a better connection for the 4.6 passengers that arrive on the second train. Of course it doesnt affect the 148 passengers that arrive by car and pay the car park charge :)
Granted, some see it as a tradeoff when traveling to heritage railways from public transport networks; it will take a lot of work for people to make that first train. However, when I went up to see the SVR Autumn Gala, many people were going from the national rail station to the SVR one. From my experience, it doesn't matter if you can't make the first train on the heritage railways when visiting just as long as you get the last one back to the national rail station:).

Regarding the thread's topic, I was looking at the K&ESR diesel gala event page. The bus link piques my interest during that event as it will mean that the K&ESR will technically serve Headcorn again (albeit for one weekend and in bus replacement form) and that some interesting diesels, such as the Class 37 from the GCR, will visit that gala.

However, when it came to the bus link, the most I saw was this in the Beerex subsection: 'The train arrives back in Tenterden just before 10pm, in time for the vintage bus link to Headcorn station.'

I want to ask why the KESR intends to get the bus link for the event but with little reference to its existence on the website or promotions.

 

paul1609

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Granted, some see it as a tradeoff when traveling to heritage railways from public transport networks; it will take a lot of work for people to make that first train. However, when I went up to see the SVR Autumn Gala, many people were going from the national rail station to the SVR one. From my experience, it doesn't matter if you can't make the first train on the heritage railways when visiting just as long as you get the last one back to the national rail station:).

Regarding the thread's topic, I was looking at the K&ESR diesel gala event page. The bus link piques my interest during that event as it will mean that the K&ESR will technically serve Headcorn again (albeit for one weekend and in bus replacement form) and that some interesting diesels, such as the Class 37 from the GCR, will visit that gala.

However, when it came to the bus link, the most I saw was this in the Beerex subsection: 'The train arrives back in Tenterden just before 10pm, in time for the vintage bus link to Headcorn station.'

I want to ask why the KESR intends to get the bus link for the event but with little reference to its existence on the website or promotions.

Ive posed the question to the committee of volunteers who are organising the Diesel Gala. Apparently the timetable for the bus link hasnt been finalised yet although it is intended that it will run throughout the day. As soon as it is confirmed it will be publicised on the railways website.
Unfortunately I have other commitments that weekend.


The web page has been updated https://kesr.org.uk/diesel-weekend/...XaMv8gMd-TO-bgMhS7eLD9A1j5BqYTxBv_d4GuJTXuj9A
 
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