Local council wants to use East Lancs as a commuter line

[Wheatley]

Didn't we  already do all this several pages back ?

 

[Wickham Green too]

7 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

If you are charging an access fee, you include the cost of professional contractors in the calculation.

Apart from having to sort out a way of apportioning that between the two users, you're going to lose all the P-way volunteers - and they'll be followed by many others, from different departments, who lose heart ..........

Edited January 20, 2023 by Wickham Green too

[Wickham Green too]

4 minutes ago, Wheatley said:

Didn't we  already do all this several pages back ?

Yes !

[The Stationmaster]

12 hours ago, Wheatley said:

Didn't we  already do all this several pages back ?

 

We did and the re-visit doesn't resolve the original basic situation.  the ELR operates under a Light Railway Order which limits it to operation as  light railway with a maximum permitted speed of 25 mph.  I can't think of a situation where a line is operated as a Light Railway for part of the week, or for a certain season, and under a totally different set of legislation the rest of the time.  

 

And of coutrse the ELR doesn't own the railway anyway as I understand the situation (and as i understand the LRO).

 

Effectively the only wau could see it done is that another company is formed to take over operation of the railway and it ceases to be a Light railway in order, particularly, to increase the maximum permitted speed. All sorts of other changes to the infrastrcture would follow from that legal change.  it would then be up to the new company to decide if it is prepared to allow a volunteer operated trains service to run over its railway and would obviously charge them for the privilege and require traincrew to be qualified to its standards.

[Wickham Green too]

11 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

...  it would then be up to the new company to decide if it is prepared to allow a volunteer operated trains service to run over its railway and ...

... up to the volunteers to decide if they're prepared to operate under whatever new conditions they'd find themselves.

 

( Speaking from experience - I did un-volunteer from one preserved railway when 'asked' to work in somewhat different circumstances.)

[Wheatley]

Similarly a recently retired colleague un-volunteered from another line when it became obvious that his definition of 'volunteer' varied from theirs. His involved continuing to  turn up and help out when he wasn't otherwise engaged umpiring village cricket, bellringing or acting as Sexton at his parish church, theirs involved giving him a roster of crossing keeper's duties 5 days a week for the next six months presumably because they assumed he now had lots of free time.  He duly studied it, marked up those turns he was available for and returned it (thinking that was what was expected) and was somewhat surprised to be told that he was expected to do all of them.

Edited January 21, 2023 by Wheatley

[Wickham Green too]

Some people seem to think that retirement brings unlimited free time ................... I suppose it does - but its free time to do all those things you wanted to do but couldn't fit in when working nine-to-five ! ( Apart from railway modelling, I've probably got two or three years of slide scanning & indexing - and then .... )

[Michael Hodgson]

On 19/01/2023 at 21:39, RJS1977 said:

As I say, not an easy nut to crack, but if a way can be found, I daresay other lines and local authorities would be looking with interest.

I seem to recall many years back the KWVR trying to encourage locals to commute using their DRBs and offering some sort of cheap fares available to local residents only, maybe only certain days of the week.