The Swanage Branch was traditionally well served with both local and direct services to London. The loss of the rail connection was particularly significant in area with limited road links. Project Wareham is the name given to the Trust's activities aimed at re-establishing a connection to the national rail network and regular services to Purbeck.

Swanage Railway supporters have launched a £100,000 appeal to upgrade the section of the Swanage Railway towards Wareham.

The arrival in Swanage of rail passengers on a direct train from London on 1st April 2009 - the Purbeck Pioneer - marked another important step forward in the evolution of the Swanage Railway Project. These through trains have now established that our railway is now once again firmly connected to the national network. Much remains to be done however to make our railway capable of handling through services regularly and we now need to move forward with this work in order to maintain the momentum that has been developed.

The 'Project Wareham' to do list is a long one. Our line beyond Norden needs further investment to upgrade the line speed to 25mph. A full barrier crossing will be required at Norden before regular movements will be permitted and at anything more than walking pace. Our new signal box at Corfe Castle needs to be fitted out, complete with the necessary equipment to interface directly with Network Rail such that trains can be exchanged without the need for padlocks and gates.

 Two documents are available for download:

• Rail re-signalling at Worgret Junction
• Statement of Principles