Swanage DMU summer services to Wareham
to the Swanage Railway from Wareham using preserved DMUS are to operate four days a week between April and September, providing a direct rail link to the heritage line from the national rail network.
The trial service will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April 4 to September 10, with the first train departing Wareham at 11.19 and the last train leaving Swanage for Wareham at 16.20. The service will be crewed and operated by West Coast Railway on behalf of the Swanage Railway.
The trains will mainly be operated using the Swanage Railway’s three-coach Class 117 diesel multiple unit, with a single-car Class 121 available at busier times. Both have been upgraded and fitted the same technical, signalling and safety equipment to allow them to be operated over Network Rail infrastructure. Through tickets to Corfe Castle and Swanage can be purchased through South Western Railway for the duration of the trial.
Swanage Railway Trust chairman Gavin Johns said: “This trial train service is the result of working in partnership with the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund, the Department of Transport, the former Purbeck District Council, Dorset Council, British Petroleum, Perenco, Network Rail and South Western Railway.
“I would like to thank our valued stakeholders for their far-sighted investment of £5.5 million to reconnect Swanage and Corfe Castle with the main line at Wareham, which included £1.8 million from the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund so we could restore and upgrade our 1950s heritage diesel trains for running on the main line directly into Wareham station.” South Western Railway regional development manager Andrew Ardley added: “SWR is proud to support the Swanage Railway by giving customers the ability to buy tickets through to Corfe Castle and Swanage from any one of the 189 stations on our network.
“This is an historic moment for the Swanage Railway and we look forward to seeing the results of this highly anticipated trial.”
The trial services between Wareham and the Swanage Railway first started in 2017 when a 60-day trial service was operated using a hired in diesel locomotive and stock from West Coast Railways. It had been expected that further services on the route would follow, but the introduction of the trial was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as economic conditions.