In 2015, James Newall from Portland, started an on-line campaign to raise interest in and awareness of the Weymouth Harbour Tramway which was built in 1865 by GWR. and remained in use until 1987.
James has amassed several thousand followers many of whom worked on the railway and who all seem to be in favour of not only retaining the railway but eventually seeing trains running over it again.
WPBC have called a meeting of the council management committee for next Tuesday to rubber stamp a decision to allow Network Rail to make the tramway from “Temporarily” to “Permanently Out Of Use” thus allowing them to rip out the existing tracks and committing an act of civic vandalism similar to that perpetrated when Old Weymouth was demolished to make way for the “Brutalist” office block at North Quay.
WPBC seem hell-bent on taking away what remains of Weymouth’s history and heritage at a time when nationwide, our heritage is becoming more important to the population and tourism.
There are at this moment over 150 preserved raiways in the UK which bring to the areas where they are situated, thousands of tourists and millions of pounds.
WPBC say that there is no prospect of a viable business plan to reopen the tramway at this time but with a lead time of only six months the writer doubts that even WPBC with all their infrastructure could put one together in under two years. So this seems to be an ill-considered and unseemly dash to get the tracks ripped out befoire James can put together a properly thought out and costed plan to reinstate the railway as it once was.
This railway is part of our heritage which brings an immense amount of foreign earnings to Britain and Weymouth with this unique asset could take a goodly part of those earnings.
If you do not want to see this historic part of Weymouth ripped out, please send an email to [email protected] stating your objection.
Ian Brooke
