A BUSINESS case two years in the making has been completed to show how a regular mainline train service could connect to the West Somerset Railway (WSR).

WSR chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt said his board was now considering the strategic outline business case (SOBC), which was supported by Somerset Council.

Mr Jones-Pratt said the SOBC would be submitted to Government if agreed by the railway’s partners.

Government approval would then see development of a full business base which would go into the proposals in greater detail.

Mr Jones-Pratt said in his annual company report the key benefits of the case were:

• Straightforward to do, based on the service model applied as part of a 2019 shuttle pilot but with a much more intensive daily service operating year round

• Relatively cheap by contemporary scheme standards with only small capital investment needed between Bishops Lydeard and the Norton Fitzwarren junction together with any revenue over and above fare box income

• Reasonably quick to achieve with all the work focused on the WSR and little or no disruption to the national network

Mr Jones-Pratt said: “Clearly, this is a long-term development, but the board consider this could have substantial benefits to the WSR heritage railway and its long-term sustainability.”

However, he said the directors had and would continue to adopt a cautious approach on the basis that the WSR should continue to be mostly steam-operated, demonstrating the best features of a mid-20th century steam railway, mainly to visitors from the leisure market.

Nevertheless, securing the long term sustainability of the railway was essential, which was why a volunteer project board had worked with Somerset Council, Network Rail, Great Western Railway, and the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership to see how best to develop regular mainline running into Bishops Lydeard.

Mr Jones-Pratt said: “Since our inception, the connection with the mainline at Norton Fitzwarren has been important on a relatively small scale, but also continually reminds us there may be wider and greater opportunities for the railway.”

He said it was important to maintain a firm grip on current costs and to work hard to promote the railway while also looking to the future to ensure the WSR continued to form an important part of the West Somerset economy for future generations.

Mr Jones-Pratt said during the year the WSR continued to receive trains from Network Rail carrying spent railway ballast to be unloaded to be cleaned and disposed of at the Luffman’s Depot alongside the track at Norton Fitzwarren, but that had now stopped.

It had also continued to regularly host mainline steam locomotives at Bishops Lydeard, where they were cleaned and serviced between operating steam specials across the Westcountry.

These were expected to continue in the years ahead, which ‘increases the imperative to improve the facilities for steam loco servicing at Bishops Lydeard’.

There were also special excursion trains from the mainline, which brought welcome revenue for the WSR and exposure to more visitors from further afield.