How high can you go before passengers say no?
Following on from the previous blog post, which generated many comments, I’ve been prompted by posts on FB to write another on the related topic of ticket costs. It’s unfortunate that we are now in the perfect storm of people having less money to spend on discretionary items and heritage rail costs going through the roof. Prior to the Ukraine conflict, coal was approx a £100 a ton, it is now £365 a ton – some lines saying they were paying £500 at one point. Indeed, the Severn Valley Railway says it costs £500 in coal just for one 16 mile round trip. There is also steaming fees to take into account if it’s a locomotive not owned by the railway. Even if a locomotive does happen to be owned by the line, there is still the ‘standing charge’ of over £100 a day – whether it’s used or not – to pay for the next overhaul.
Before we look at passenger fares on heritage railways, let’s compare the cost of other ‘luxuries’. On FB someone ordered Fish and Chips on the Isle of Man and commented: “£28.40 for fish, chips, peas & a can of pop, twice. TWENTY EIGHT QUID it was very nice but surely it doesn't warrant that price ticket. It's crazy how expensive food is now.” The picture that accompanied it, showed a medium size piece of fish and a handful of chips accompanied by a dollop of mushy peas – certainly not worth £14.20. At the Royal Oper House cafe, a small slice of sponge cake costs £6.50 – banana cake coming in slightly cheaper at £4.50.
One comment on FB relating to the Nene Valley Railway was : “Just been quoted £26.50 for a day rover, eeek, that's more expensive than some of the bigger lines! Think pricing needs looking at if you want bottoms on seats. We were going to visit tomorrow, but not now.” I’ve travelled on the NVR many times and found it pleasant enough. If it fails to raise the £300,000 needed and was to close, it would be a devastating blow to the area and to the heritage railway movement as a whole. The reality is that £26.50 for riding behind a Battle of Britain locomotive (all day if one wished) is remarkably good value for money – considering how they gobble up the coal. If one wanted to travel behind a similar locomotive on the mainline, the cost would be nearly four times that. Yes, the mainline run is somewhat faster – but speed isn’t everything, sometimes it’s good to enjoy a leisurely ride through the countryside get off and have a look at the steam locomotive and maybe even visit the footplate. For those that just want short return journey, this can be had for £8 (one station) or £13 (two stations). It’s naive of those who say “It’ll never happen” but can’t back up their statement with any logical argument, beyond “These things always come right, eventually.”
Someone hit back by saying what good value a rover ticket is at the Swanage Railway: “The Swanage railway will have eight steam locos and will have to pay five lots of transportation plus the cost of getting a Mainline locomotive and six coaches in for their Gala next month. The coal bill will be huge as well. Wall to wall steam from early morning right through the night. A Rover ticket is £45 a day.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway was then mentioned, with some complaining about the £49.50 price tag for the diesel gala – although this ticket is valid for as many visits as one likes within 12 months. One would be hard pushed to find another heritage railway with such beautiful scenery.
What it boils down to in many cases, is that enthusiasts will often grumble, but ultimately pay up – whereas the general public will grumble, walk away, tell their friends and post about it on social media. Obviously, as noted in the Nene Valley example, there are occasions where enthusiasts will also walk away, but it’s a scenario far more likely with the general public.One has to remember that railways don’t have a romantic image with much of the population and are becoming increasingly irrelevant. If one opened a stagecoach museum – complete with horses – just how much public appeal would it have? Yes, sure historians and the curious would no doubt visit (maybe only once) but if it had anything like the overheads of a heritage railway would it be any state to survive in the long-term? It’s main disadvantage would be that no one would be able to actually relate to stagecoach travel – something that is becoming increasingly prevalent with steam lines. Look how we’ve moved from big four liveries in the 70s and 80s, to a lot of BR black or at least BR green in the last couple of decades – because it’s what many of the present enthusiasts can relate to.
It’s obvious to me that the future will see a contraction in both lines and services – it would be foolish to talk about extensions in the present climate. Indeed, it’s perfectly possible that in decades to come the Great Central Railway may revert back to a single line with passing loops. Maintaining double track and the associated signalling must be a tremendous drain on resources and if there aren’t enough people travelling……… Loughborough and Leicester North aren’t natural tourist areas either – certainly not the kind of place a family would go for a day out were it not for the railway. Railways, such as the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway, Severn Valley Railway and West Somerset Railway do have a great advantage of being in tourist magnet areas.
Not so far from the Great Central Railway is the Midland Railway Butterley. Yes, this is also not in a natural tourist area, but what has it done to combat this? Well, at Swanwick one can wander around the shed and diesel depot. In addition, there is a demonstration signal box where children (and adults!) can pull the levers. For younger children there is a giant sand pit at the station and there is the narrow gauge Golden Valley Railway, that takes passengers on a short trip through the nearby Golden Valley Park. These are all things that can be considered ‘bolt ons’ to the train ride. It’s relatively little things such as that, that can make a heritage railway much more attractive to families. Sure, the purist may baulk at the mention of sand pits etc, but the times have changed and heritage railways can longer rely on a steam hauled trains making up the majority of its income.
One line that does consistently well is the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway – so much so that it has very few volunteers. However, how many enthusiasts would tolerate the removal of all manual signal boxes – seeing them replaced with a push button panel and colour lights? Or, for example, running the same two steam locomotives day in and day out – with a visiting locomotive only putting in an appearance on the very rare occasion? Whether we like it or not, that is the future, in some form or other, staring most major heritage railways in the face – the one’s that survive that is.
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