West Somerset general
managersuspended
WESTSomersetRailway general
managerPaul Conibearehas been
suspendeduntil further notice.
Aspokesmanconfirmed on July
18 thatPaulhas been suspended,
adding:“Under employmentlaw,
suspension is deemedaneutral actto
protectboth employeeand employer
and,asaconfidential staffing matter,
it would be inappropriate forusto
commentfurther at this time.
“The duties of general managerfor
the West SomersetRailway plc will be
carried out in the interimperiodby
WSR plc deputychairmanMark Smith,
who is morethan familiar with the
role,having been the WSR plc’s last
managing directorfrom1988to2006.”
Before joining the WSR,Paul was
managing directorofthe 15ingauge
BureValleyRailway until 2002, and
wascredited with the Norfolk line’s
success during his fiveyears in charge.
Thefollowing year,hej oined the
Minehead line as full-time traction
inspectorand,onMarch 13, 2006,
he wasappointedasi ts general
manager,replacingMark,who retired
as managing directorafter 18years.
We wereunableto co ntactPaul for
commentasweclosedforpress.
Thesuspension cameweeks after
WSR plc announced,onJuly 1, a
completerestructuring of itsexisting
boardfollowingacomprehensive
businessreviewby its chairman
Jonathan Jones-Pratt.
Astatementsaid: “The review
included anexternal safetyand
operationalcomplianceaudit,
afullrevie wofoverheads and
staff structureand adetailed
financial investigation.”
Jonathan added:“The focus is
nowmoving from‘turn-around’
to‘recovery’but forshareholders
and staffwe oweittothemto be
transparent. Theresults of thereview
highlightsome critical business
failures which have re sulted in
significantfinancial losses accruing
to the plc.Resultsfor th e15months
to March31, 2019, when published,
will illustratethe extent of the sharp
decline in the financialcondition of
the plc.”
He continued:“Wealsowish to
sharethis with the wider heritage
community, since other heritage
railways arebegin ningto recognise
the changes needed in the sector. We
wouldn’t wan tthemto encounter
the pain thatwehavebeen through
and forthattobecome normal in
the sector.
“The business must and will be
ready for2020operations.Wemay
needto take some furthertough
decisions aswe aim to ensurea
professional operation of the WSR in
the future. Iamalwayssoprivileged
to see the supportshared across the
WSRcommunityand Iamabsolutely
committedto see this through and
ensureitb ecomesarailway thatwe
can all be proud of,whetherforpast,
presentorf uturemembers.”
Therailwaystatementadded:“As
the business goesforwardthere
will beafurtherfocus on the future
management/leadership structure
giventhe recent poor performanceof
the business.
“The boardwill shortly arrange
to meet with shareholders/staff/
volunteers and other stakeholders
to gi ve afurtherbriefing.The
final structurewill be one thatall
stak eholders canrecognise as a
positivestepforward.”
TheWSR plc has called an
extraordinarygeneral meetingfor
Saturday, August 10,at Wellington
School,with the aim of amending
the company’sarticles of association
in orderto facilitate ashortdelay
in completingameaningful set of
audited accounts.Letthe traintakethe
strain allthe waytothe
seasideatMinehead
FOR the first time in 48years,public
servicetrainsare bringing passengersto
the seaside inWest Somerset.
TheMineheadRail Link Group has
welcomed the startofGreat Western
Railway’s experimental DMU shuttles
between Tauntonstation and the
West SomersetRailway’s southern
terminus at BishopsLydeard, which
began onSaturday, July 27.
Theservic eallow day-trippersto
travel by ra il all thewaybetween
Minehead,BlueAnchor,Watchet and
the main line network at Tauntonby
changing fromamain line serviceto
aheritage oneat BishopsLydeard
station.Theshuttles will also run on
August 3, 17 and 31,September 7, 21
and October 5, and itwashoped that
they will be usedby visitorstot he
WSRAssociation’s Stea m&Vintage
Rally at Norton Fitzwarren onAugust
3-4 and the autumn steam gala on
October 5.
Group secretaryand local Liberal
Democrat leaderBenet Allen said:
“Wewanttos ee theWest Somerset
Railway being usedforthe purpose it
wasbuilt for–tolink West Somerset
with Tauntonand therest of Britain
–and we wantthe railway tobe
moreenvironmentally-friendlyby
accommodatingaservic eoverit’s
tracks thatgets people out of their
cars and onto public transport.”
WSR plc chairman Jonathan
Jones-Prattsaid: “The new GWRshuttle link is another goodreason
to visit theWest SomersetRailway
this year.Coupled withgreatscenery,
the friendlywelcome and our steam
trains,and youhave an unbeatable
dayout.Weare proud to be running
our heritage steam trains alongside
their GreatWestern successors.”
Grea tWestern Railway already
offers through tickets from its staffed
stationsto the West Somerset
Railway,and these will bevalid on
the shuttle train or on the No.
bus between Tauntonand Bishops
Lydeardasanalternativetothe
shuttlerail service. Ti cket scan also
be boughtonthe shuttle train from
Tauntontoany station on theWest
SomersetRailway.
Theuse of the trains will be
carefully monitored and analysedto
see if thereisabasi sfor runninga
serviceinf utureyears.
GWR shuttle trains aretimetabled
to departTaunton at 9.39am,
10.28am, 12.10pm, 3.37pm and
4.36pm; arriving at BishopsLydeard
at 9.56am, 10.45am, 12.26pm,
3.54pm and 4.53pm.Theshuttle
departs BishopsLydeardat10.03am,
11.45am, 12.53pm, 4.09pm and
5.11pm; arriving inTauntonat
10.22am, 12.05pm, 1.10pm, 4.26pm
and 5.28pm.Times willvary forWSR
special eventweekends.Call 01643
704996 or visitwww.west-somerset-
railway.co.ukPicturedheadingthe‘NorthernBelle’luncheontrainonSatur day, July20 isthe
NationalCollection-ownedA3PacificNo.60103FlyingScotsmanasittakesthe
CarnforthbranchofftheLeedstoCarlislemainlineat therarely-photographed
SettleJunction.MAURICEBURNS
Visi tingtheCleethorpesCoastLight Railway forit sJuly13/14steamgalawere
Exmoor-builtenginesSt EgwinandSandy.0-6-0TSandy(No. 301of1996) from
thepriva teWottonLightRailwayinBuckinghamshire,passes0-4-0TTSt Egwin
(No. 312of2003) fromtheEveshamValeLightRailway (pictures,page20) on
theapproachto Lakesidestati on.TrainsoperatedonlybetweenKingsway
andLakeside,ast herearecurrentlytechnicalissueswi tht hele velcrossing
onMeridianRoadandtherailway hasdecidednotto runonthese ctionto
Humberstonuntilfur thernotice.BRIANSHARPEWritetous:Heritage Railway,MortonsMediaLtd,POBox43,Horncastle, Lincs LN 96 LZ. Heritagerailway.co.uk 9