‘Work together, not compete’ – southern lines make a call for teamwork to survive

WORKING together was very much the central focus on October 22 when Jonnie Pay, commercial manager of the Spa Valley Railway, welcomed Kent & East Sussex Railway general manager Robin Coombes and Lisa Boyle, chief operating officer of the Bluebell Railway, to Tunbridge Wells to discuss the current positions of the three railways – and share ideas for the future to help each one grow and survive in financially turbulent and unstable times.

With every railway facing shared difficulties of rising costs and encouraging people away from home comforts, the meeting between the three railways in the south is a first step towards reinvigorating the Southern Six collaboration, where the management of these three lines, as well as the Mid-Hants, Swanage and Isle of Wight Steam railways, would come together to share ideas, obstacles faced, and ways to overcome them in a bid to mutually benefit all. It is very much this teamwork that Jonnie feels will be key to helping railways tackle the challenges ahead.

“We are all facing the same issues of rising costs and the broader challenges of actually attracting people away from the comfort of TV and games consoles to come and visit us,” he said. “The last time the Southern Six met was in about 2018, and with our three railways within 20 miles of one another, this seemed an opportune moment to look at restarting, but a little closer to home to begin with.

“As railways, there is no point battling each other when it will be far more beneficial to work as one to share ideas and resources to benefit us all, for example, by sharing suppliers. Our electricity bill on the Spa Valley has increased £40,000 over the years – that’s a significant chunk out of an overhaul fund or a new item of rolling stock.

“Coal, of course, is well-known to have trebled in price in some cases. If each railway has one cheaper supplier than the rest, then what sense does it make to withhold that from one another? Would we get a cheaper deal by purchasing it as a consortium?

“The same for insurance – rather than each paying an individual highcost premium, is there a policy that will cover multiple railways?”

While none of the three railways may currently have a surplus of operational locomotives, this has not stopped discussions about exchanges for galas in future, and also overhaul collaborations.

“Qualified people with the skillsets needed for overhauls are rapidly decreasing and there’s a struggle to employ enough staff,” Jonnie added. “One thing we touched on as an idea in principle is whether there may be scope in future to collaborate to support the same facilities, rather than all operating independently.”

One thing clear to all three was the cost of marketing, with leaflet distribution in tourism racks proving incredibly expensive. In a bid to reduce this, they are developing a combined leaflet that offers the basic but essential information of each in one non-year specific pamphlet, drastically cutting individual marketing and distribution costs.

Robin said: “The Great Little Trains of Wales scheme is a good example of a combined marketing effort working and there is no reason this shouldn’t be replicated at appropriate levels elsewhere.

“Each railway isn’t competing with the other as we will each appeal in different ways. If we share our ideas, we can broaden them to survive the market we operate in.

“There are many people who may want to come to our railways, but the cost of living crisis at the moment might well mean they cannot afford to. That market is therefore lost.

“Those who can afford to will be looking very closely at value for money, and we must be mindful, and consider just how exciting is going back and forth in a Mk.1, for example?”

“We must think about where is the ‘wow’ factor – and what is the ‘wow’ factor? When people come to our lines, do they want a nostalgic experience, and are they getting that?

“Heritage railways can have poor interpretation for visitors of what can be seen – what it is, why is it there, and how it was saved. But we must be careful and ask, ‘are we Disney or a charity?’ It will be difficult to entice volunteers if we become too commercial, and we cannot think of any business model that works without them.”

“By joining forces, we are increasing our resources and potential visitor base,” added Lisa. “A shared understanding of our industry reduces isolation and brings the challenges we all face into focus. We are part of a community that want our railways to survive and thrive, and it is comforting to know we are not alone.

“Meeting with managers from the nearby KESR and Spa valley, we all felt it was very important to share information going forward, as well as understand our costs and limited resources, review timetables, and talk about ways to introduce those added extras which encourage new visitors to our railways.

“Gone are the days of keeping secrets and pretending all is well – and we must all face the reality that we need each other in the heritage world. A proactive alliance is crucial to all our survivals.”