What happened at Dorchester West (DCW) in 2006?

[whole diary]

[Alan Pettitt]

I have often wondered what occurred at Dorchester West around 2006/07 that increased the footfall from 172 to 65,961 in the space of 12 months? I was living at West Bay and working in Weymouth at the time but I don't remember it being mentioned in the Dorset Echo that someone had suddenly had a bright idea such as removing the barbed wire from the station gate!

[John R]

It was the way the figures were estimated and split between the two Dorchester stations. This changed to give a more sensible attribution.

[Alan Pettitt]

Thanks for your reply, I'm a bit disappointed though, I thought we might be able to use the figures to fight for a much improved service between Dorchester and Frome!

[anthony215]

I think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have plans in the future to improve services between Bristol and Weymouth the main problem being the shortage of rolling stock.

I do think improved services over the heart of wessex line will happen sooner of later just as soon as the GW^▸ (Great Western) franchise gets additional dmu's.

Keep pushing for improved services as we have seen on the Trans Wilts line it will eventually pay off

[grahame]

Certain ticket sales numbers need interpreting with additional background knowledge such as JohnR added here. You'll find similar stories from Pontefract to Tyndrum and from Wakefield via Dorking to Lelant Saltings.  Other figures are less obviously distorted by splitting of tickets and people buying tickets for a longer journey than the one they actually make, and together all these things make for a bit of a nightmare in terms of forecasting.   Other data is gathered too, and ticket sales alone are not relied upon.

The Heart of Wessex has been a true success story - I recall hearing of traffic at a level of 173% of what it was "n" years ago, and I don't think "n" was a very big number.  And I do know better than to try to promote too many hot summer Saturday days out Weymouthwards.     However, I don't know what the loadings are away from those peaks ... and if there' just a handful of people on the 20:21 from Weymouth on a dark and wet Tuesday in November, that's still only 2 handfuls after that growth.

Clockface would be marvellous on so many lines, and thinking of other threads and discussions and growth figures, I can envisage the day when 3 trains an hour arrive in Westbury from Trowbridge - one fast on the hour and two "all stations" on the half hour.  The all stations trains will connect with each other (for one will have come from Swindon and one from Bristol) across an island platform - 0 and 1 - before they carry on for Southampton and for Weymouth.  At the same time, a similar northbound connection will be happening at 2 and 3.

[John R]

Thanks for your reply, I'm a bit disappointed though, I thought we might be able to use the figures to fight for a much improved service between Dorchester and Frome!

The aborted franchise ITT^▸ (Invitation to Tender) had a priced option for an additional 8 services a day on the route, making an hourly service. The expected start date was quite soon, and whilst the hiatus in the franchise process won't have helped, as we've seen from another service that radiates from Westbury, it may be that things will move prior to the full reletting in 2016.

The relevant section is shown below.

4.11.5.8 Option GW8 - Heart of Wessex Line Service Optimisation
This proposal would deliver a much strengthened service on the Heart of Wessex line between Bristol and Weymouth and in particular, would create rail commuting opportunities into Yeovil Pen Mill from both the north and south and ^there and back^ Sunday journeys. The proposal is supported by all the transport authorities and by district councils along the route, including Dorset County Council, Somerset County Council, Wiltshire Council, Bath & North East Somerset Council and South Somerset District Council. ImageRail Consultancy has carried out operational analysis on behalf of the Heart of Wessex Community Rail Partnership. The ^Optimisation^ scenario creates a strengthened calling pattern requiring one additional train set, but concludes that the additional revenue would negate any increase in subsidy making the scheme cost neutral. Subject to rolling stock availability, the service could commence from summer 2014. The Heart of Wessex Line Service Optimisation and the Bristol Metro Phase 1 do not conflict with one another and, indeed, there could be efficiencies if the two were taken together.
This Priced Option requires the provision of the following specification:
Monday ^ Saturday: operation of eight more trains per day above that specified in the TSR^▸ (Temporary Speed Restriction) creating an hourly, clock-face service between Westbury and Weymouth between 07.15 and 21.15; and
Sunday: A strengthened service as set out in Appendix 6 of the 2011 Imagerail Report.
Weighting: 50%
Assumed start date: May 2014 subject to rolling stock availability. If rolling stock is a constraint, Bidders should indicate this in the submission and start the service from the earliest achievable timetable change date.

[Alan Pettitt]

Thank you for all the input to this thread,  I didn't really expect all this feedback, I'll keep fingers, toes, legs and knickers crossed!

[ROGace]

me too,   just travelled last night on rickety old class 150 CLC^▸ (Castle Cary)-WEY and the train was like something that runs up to machu puchu...the 1837 CLC-BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)) arrived on one engine and half the lights out...not good enough in 2013...

this line could be so handy if better connections for London and the West were planned at CLC or WSB^» (Westbury - next trains)...

[grahame]

this line could be so handy if better connections for London and the West were planned at CLC^▸ (Castle Cary) or WSB^» (Westbury - next trains)...

A fourth platform at Westbury (or rather a fourth track beside a platform - the platform itself is already there!) would provide connection scope that probably can't be risked at the moment.  A fifteen year franchise (as noted in the earlier post) had that HoW^‡(resolve) option, and all four bidding teams were very much listening and learning to inputs.  Of course, we never got to find out whether that went beyond listen and learn and into any implementation plans to resynchronise services that have developed over time and might be considered out of sync at present.  I appreciate WHY you need an 11:01 and an 11:11 from Westbury to Southampton at present, but it does strike me as a bit unfortunate if you're looking to spread out the traffic on a regular service.

[thetrout]

this line could be so handy if better connections for London and the West were planned at CLC^▸ (Castle Cary) or WSB^» (Westbury - next trains)...

A fourth platform at Westbury (or rather a fourth track beside a platform - the platform itself is already there!)

Sorry grahame, The track is also there too! However the track needs aligning against the platform.

Discussions with staff at WSB have suggested that it is a much bigger job than it looks, as there are cables and pipework in the cess between the track and platform. So extending platform to track isn't an option.

So track needs to be moved to platform and the associated cables and pipes moved in the same process. With the introduction of the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) and GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) Electrifcation I suspect we will see the 4th platform within the next 3 years as WSB can get pretty congested at the moment as it is. Divert a few CrossCountry services via WSB and you're just asking for delays.

Thanks for your reply, I'm a bit disappointed though, I thought we might be able to use the figures to fight for a much improved service between Dorchester and Frome!

To be honest and controversially, I am going to say that the service is rather good as it is. I agree though that there is massive scope for improvements. However some of them could be done with Routing Guide Easements and advertising better places to change trains.

Take Taunton - Frome for example. It is often quicker to take a train via Bristol which is a 'logical route' but not a permitted one according to the routeing guide. However Taunton - Yeovil Pen Mill IS permitted via Bristol, yet doesn't have First Class Fares available, despite First Class being available on trains via Bristol as far as Castle Cary via the following services:

• XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) to BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)
• FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to BRI and BTH^» (Bath Spa - next trains)
• SWT^▸ (South West Trains) BRI - WSB
• FGW WSB - CLC (HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) to the Far West Country)
• FGW Oddballs:
• BRI - WSB via TRO^» (Trowbridge - next trains) 1x Per Day
• TRO - BRI via BTH 1x Per Day
• FRO^» (Frome - next trains) - WSB 3x Per Day of which 2 continue to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) via NBY^» (Newbury - next trains)
• WSB - FRO 1x Per Day
• XC Oddball (For the pedants) BTH - BRI 1x Per Day

XC = CrossCountry Trains - FGW = First Great Western Trains - SWT = South West Trains
BRI = Bristol Temple Meads - BTH = Bath Spa - TRO = Trowbridge - WSB = Westbury - FRO = Frome - NBY = Newbury - PAD = London Paddington


Taunton - Frome is also sometimes better done via WSB despite said train speeding past ASDA Frome at 110mph which when you know how close you are to FRO Station, but carry on rushing past on the avoid line is sometimes mildly frustrating. However that is preferable to what can be otherwise a big wait at CLC.

However my final point is Bournemouth. A big place fairly significant in Telecommunications and had been chosen to trial Dark Fibre Internet Connections and it is an absolute SOD of a place to get to by Train from places like Bristol Temple Meads etc...

*edited to add: XC Oddball Service to please the pedants, despite being pretty much useless for FRO - TAU^» (Taunton - next trains) journeys hence my initial omission!

[ROGace]

quote.
However my final point is Bournemouth. A big place fairly significant in Telecommunications and had been chosen to trial Dark Fibre Internet Connections and it is an absolute SOD of a place to get to by Train from places like Bristol Temple Meads etc...


yup tell me about it...i live here!

hideous road journey from anywhere in Dorset to Bath/Bristol yet it is a busy logical connection (er someone mention the Somerset & Dorset? LOL^▸ (laughing out loud))...that is why the Wessex line could/should be so improved,
sadly no connection at Dorchester to enable trains to run Bmth-Brs via Wareham/Dorch unless you reverse at Upwey or Weymouth...illogical...

[ellendune]

A curve at Dorchester would not be easy, but it is more realistic than re-opening the S & D or the line through Ringwood to Salisbury. You could build a line along the route of the by-pass and come in to Dorchester West from the South.  The existing route being retained for Weymouth trains.

[John R]

I'm not sure what good a curve at Dorchester would do. If you're going to run a service direct to Bournemouth, then the journey times are faster via Southampton.

Typical journey times from Westbury are:-

Westbury to Dorchester West: 1hr 17mins
+
Dorchester South to B'th: 42mins
=1hr 59 mins

Or:

Westbury to Soton: 1 hr 1min
+
Soton to Bournemouth: 30 mins
= 1 hr 31 mins

So a through service will always be faster via Southampton, and not have to find paths through the various single line sections on both the Heart of Wessex route and the line via Wareham.

I'll rise to The Trout's bait though and disagree with him. I don't think the current HoW^‡(resolve) service is adequate, remembering that the main purpose of it is not to link Frome (which his post focusses on), but to provide better connectivity for Weymouth and Yeovil.