Swanage to Wareham rail line set for summer passenger trial
Passenger trains
are set to run between a Dorset coastal resort and the mainline rail
network for the first time in four decades.
The Swanage Railway heritage line said June 2016 was its target date for trial services between Swanage and Wareham.
The
original rail line connecting the town was ripped up in 1972, before a
5.5-mile (8.8km) stretch was restored by volunteers as a tourist
attraction.
Swanage Railway
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1885 Branch line from Wareham to Corfe Castle and Swanage opens
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1972 British Rail rips up the line
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1976 Volunteers start relaying track at Swanage Station
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1979 First Swanage Railway train runs over a few hundred yards
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1995 First trains runs from Swanage to Corfe Castle
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2013 £1.4m Government grant to restore Swanage-Wareham services
The trial service from summer 2016 will see diesel trains run by the
Swanage Railway connecting with South West Trains scheduled services at
Wareham, on the Weymouth to London Waterloo line.
The new level
crossing across the Wytch Farm oil field and a park and ride access road
near Corfe Castle has been funded by BP and Perenco.
Project director Mark Woolley said it was a "key element" to allow passenger services to progress.
"It's
fulfilling the objectives of our pioneer members who campaigned against
the line's closure and then helped reopen it," he added.
Work
has also been carried out to replace 1,700 wooden sleepers with
concrete ones, clear embankments and repair bridges, fences and drains.
Issues
including ownership of the line and nearby hibernating animals led to
delays in the work earlier this year which resulted in the trial date
being put back.
The Dorset line from Swanage to Wareham was closed by British Rail and ripped up in seven weeks.
Volunteers
rebuilt the line from Swanage as far as Norden over 30 years and have
been running it as a tourist attraction since the late 1990s.
Their
long-term ambition is to reconnect the full 10-mile stretch between
Swanage, Corfe Castle and Wareham with a scheduled community passenger
service.
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