A SPECIAL three-day train service is to operate in January to mark the 50th anniversary of the last British Rail train from Wareham to Corfe Castle and Swanage.

Operated by a British Railways diesel railbus, the five trains a day service will operate between Norden, Corfe Castle, Harman’s Cross and Swanage from 10.30am to 4pm daily on Saturday January 1, Sunday 2, and Monday 3, 2022.

On the front of the special trains will be a commemorative wooden headboard made by Swanage Railway volunteer signalman Malcolm Munro – who travelled on the last train as a 16-year-old.

Malcolm said: “It’s important that the 50th anniversary is marked because the branch line’s controversial closure led to a remarkable rebirth against all the odds – showing the power of the human spirit and what it can achieve.

“It certainly doesn’t seem like half a century since that last train moaned and juddered its way through the Isle of Purbeck on that cold and depressing night. Few people on board the train thought the line would come back and the tearing up of the tracks six months later seemed to seal its fate forever.

“Thankfully, a group of railway enthusiasts, and community volunteers, had other ideas.”

The first 50 people to purchase tickets online for each of the three days will only pay 50 pence per person – as it was in 1972.

Those tickets will be available online from Sunday, December 5, with a commemorative heritage card ticket being produced.