£3m plan to get Swanage rail route back on track (From Bournemouth Echo)

£3m plan to get Swanage rail route back on track

11:30am Friday 23rd July 2010 in

By James Durkin »

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DORSET County Council has made history by agreeing to support a £3 million project to reconnect Swanage to the mainline rail network.

However, county officials won’t make an official pledge to Network Rail – which needs to know the money is in place by the end of this month – until Purbeck District Council provides a cast-iron guarantee it will also support the proposal.

District councillors meet on July 29 to decide if they can fully commit.

County councillor Mike Lovell said: “This is something that we really need to try and do.

“The risk is not very high to the county council, but this is the one thing that will kill the Purbeck Transport Strategy if it doesn’t happen.

“This is also the one thing that will help get people off the roads.”

County council cabinet members believe the scheme has huge environmental and commercial benefits.

Transport bosses say the £3million would come from an existing fund which developers pay into when they build in the county.

And the costs could be split across three years, so it would not have a major impact on the current financial difficulties affecting local authorities.

Because responsibility for the collection of these development contributions lies with the district council, it must agree to fully support it if the plan is to proceed.

Network Rail needs an assurance for when the planned Poole to Wool re-signalling work starts in 2012.

Campaigners, councillors and Purbeck business leaders have been pushing for the reconnection after an absence of mainline services for more than three decades.

Last December, Purbeck District Council and the county each agreed to invest £50,000 to help upgrade Worgret Junction.

British Rail closed the branch line in 1972.

Comments(8)

lowemustgo says...
1:51pm Fri 23 Jul 10

This is really good and sensible news.
But am I the only person who is struggling to understand how you can spend £3m+ on 'signals'?
Steam trains already run to Swanage from Waterloo - the line exists -there are (old) signals.
Surely the council need to look at how many trains an hour are actually going to be operated on the line and build the signals accordingly?
If its one an hour each way then surely they don't need such a 'Rolls Royce' mainline signaling system?
Buy something more appropriate to the useage of the line and spend the public's money carefully-like you would your own.
What signals would the excellent Swanage Railway Company (whose Volunteers re-laid the line) buy if its was their choice?
Has anyone even asked them?
Could they manage the project and get a better result in 'Big Society' style?