The Isle of Man Government have launched an “Independent Review and Economic Impact Assessment” into the operation of the heritage railways on the island. This obviously includes the Manx Electric Railway, Snaefell Mountain Railway and Douglas Bay Horse Tramway and as part of this review they have launched an online consultation to find out views from the public.
On the consultation page – which can be viewed at https://consult.gov.im/infrastructure/iomhr-review-and-assessment/ – the government say the following:
“This consultation is about developing an understanding of who uses the heritage rail network and why, and what is considered the most important factor in their operation.”
As to why people’s views matter the page goes on to say: “To gather the views of the public, and those involved in the Island’s voluntary heritage railways associations, to assist with understanding the role the heritage rail network plays in the Isle of Man, in support of the independent review and economic impact assessment currently being undertaken by SYSTRA.”
The short consultation asks questions about who is using the railways, where they’re going and for what purpose. All responses will then be passed on to SYSTRA – who have been appointed to complete the full assessment – to help them complete the report into the value of heritage railways on the Isle of Man.
The review being conducted is an update of a previous report conducted in 2017/8. At the time it was found that the railways cost £4.78 million to operate and had a direct revenue of £1.66 million, although didn’t mention the indirect revenue brought to the Isle of Man with people specifically visiting for the railways then spending other money.
The consultation is open until 13th August and the report is due to be presented by SYSTRA to the government by the end of September.
I cannot stress how important is for as many people as possible to complete this review, as it is known all too well that apathy towards not bothering to complete this can play a very big part in decisions made after the results of this sort of thing are analyzed.
Sounds like a back door way of finding an excuse not to relay the rest of the horse tramway to me!
This is a very important survey, please give it maximum publicity – public finances are generally ‘tight’ on the Isle of Man at the moment. There is a large free text section where it would be helpful to emphasise the money spent on hotels, meals, tourist attractions, travel, souvenirs etc when visiting the IOM railways, and the need to keep them going for future generations as part of their heritage. It is also a good chance to help promote extension of Douglas Bay Horse Tramway to the full length approved by Tynwald (IOM Parliament) in 2017.
PLEASE, PLEASE Complete the survey.
The IoM Government has just announced a significant reduction in the Capital Budget for the Railways. That will in due course lead to the costs going up and there will either be a load of urgent jobs which are all bunched up and need doing at the same time and not practical with money and resources or in 2 or 3 years there will be large parts of the systems in such poor state that it becomes easy to close them. One way of reading that is that the outcome of the review is predetermined. We must make sure there is enough noise that the railways cannot close and are properly funded.
As Paul Stewart says, please emphasise how much is spent on the Island because of the railways. The last review found that the railways needed a £2m subsidy but added between £3m and £20m to the Manx economy. The figures now will be similar. Even at the low end, that’s a good return. If it’s at the high end, find something else with a better return.