Weymouth Harbour railway line - merged topic, ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Lee]

New thinking emerges for Weymouth Quay line after field trip to Thailand...

[eightf48544]

Not so far off the mark when the tramway was running only it was cars.

My first job at Waterloo, as well as making the tea, was filing reports headed "Train hit Car" at least once a week in summer.

[grahame]

Dorset Echo (five months ago - must have missed it then - re-lifed via Facebook)

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/17422500.campaign-for-better-transport-calls-for-weymouth-harbour-tramway-to-be-reopened/

Fresh calls are being made to bring Weymouth's defunct harbour tramway back into use.

The new push for a revival of the quayside line comes from the Campaign for Better Transport which is making a case for an expansion of the railways by reopening or rebuilding old routes.

It says reopening railways has the potential to transform communities – relieving road congestion and pollution and making economically disadvantaged parts of the country more attractive for investment.

The harbour tramway is not included in one of the 33 national reopening schemes which the group says should be prioritised.

However it is among those listed as 'priority 2' projects; those identified in research which are said to be 'feasible but require further development or changed circumstances to assist them in being taken forward'. Changed circumstances could be, for example, housing development proposals which encroach on the route.

There is no mention of how such a scheme for Weymouth can be revived or funded, or whether it could involve a regular quay service linking with the main line near Weymouth station or – as has been explored in the past – a railcar ferrying passengers along the harbour as a tourist attraction.

Article goes on to cover the history of the tramway and has brought lots of comment

[ChrisB]

I'd be interested in seeing an up to date H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) assessment....

[eightf48544]

I'd be interested in seeing an up to date H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) assessment....

Probably no worse than any other street running tramway.

The main problem when the boat train was running was cars parked inside the yellow lines. In places they were some distance from the running rail due to the overhang of the mark 1s on curves. So drivers thought they could park just over the line and got hit by the train! Also the length of the train. So similar problems would arise if it was a steam/diesel heritage operation.

A modern tram would have much less overhang and be shorter. The only problems with a modern tram would be that it is potentially  faster and quieter than a steam train