Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[chuffed]

Well,it is 8 days since the BEP said the decision about the station was to be made 'within days'......anyone heard/seen anything ?

[chuffed]

And a further 10 days of deafening silence.....

Ian B on the Portishead Streetlife page suggests, that as we have the 'Strawberry Line' and the 'Bluebell line'...not forgetting the 'Watercress line,Ian...., that the Portishead line is henceforth known as the 'Marmite line'.....love it or hate it.....

 And I wondered what the sticky black substance was, on the newly cleared rails beyond Quays Avenue towards Sainsburys.....( nearly said Salisbury lol, wishful thinking!)

[TonyK]

I had a look around recently, and took some pictures. I've posted them with others I took in September 2012, for comparison.

Sheepway facing Bristol before:



After:



 Sheepway facing Portbury Wharf before:



and after:



From Portbury Wharf bridge towards Bristol before:



and after:



Towards Portishead from Portbury Wharf Bridge before:



and after:



Portbury Wharf bridge itself before:



and after:



From Quays Avenue towards Portishead station before:



and after:



There is traffic counting equipment in place where the level crossing will, common sense prevailing, be built:



Now, are those rails likely to be strong enough to be usable for delivery of rail and sleepers at 2 mpf (miles per fortnight)? That would save a lorra lorra lorry journeys.

[Cynthia]

An impressive amount of work has obviously gone on to reopen this line.  Hope this isn't a stupid question, but was all this line restoration done by employed staff, or has there been any input by volunteers?  Who financed the work?  I knownotheeng, as Manuel used to say. Thank you for your patience.

[Red Squirrel]

An impressive amount of work has obviously gone on to reopen this line.  Hope this isn't a stupid question, but was all this line restoration done by employed staff, or has there been any input by volunteers?  Who financed the work?  I knownotheeng, as Manuel used to say. Thank you for your patience.

The work has been done by contractors, paid for by Network Rail. The purpose of this is just to allow inspection of the route.

Although the clearance is a visible sign of progress, there is a lot of planning to do before new rails and ballast go down.

[Chris from Nailsea]

... has there been any input by volunteers?

No, Cynthia, there has not been any physical input by volunteers on the work carried out so far.

In the past, volunteers from the Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site)) expressed an interest in helping to clear some of the vegetation, but their offer was declined.

To be fair, there are various quite legitimate 'health and safety' concerns in such cases.  The trackbed is private property (much of it bought by North Somerset Council) and Network Rail and their contractors have access to it, to carry out some industrial strength clearance work, on the basis that they will not expect to find anyone else on site (however well-intentioned). 

[Cynthia]

OK, well, as long as the work is being done.....  I'm sure the volunteer force that would like to have hurried along the reopening must have been ruing the advent of overly-cautious H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) regulations. (Injury Claims UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and others of your kind; you're ruining the British culture of 'mucking in')

I will just add that I hope the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust manage to complete their restoration of the canal before H&S concerns prevent the presence of volunteers.  Most of the work completed so far wouldn't have been possible without the willing army of volunteers!  And yes, they also had some pretty chunky equipment present at work party sessions.

[chuffed]

The clearance near Sainsburys has revealed the metal skeleton of what was designed to bring a train to a halt. After being revealed in Sleeping Beauty fashion after some 50 years, (the structure I hasten to add!), I was photographed  standing next to it. The caption for the photograph is Two Old Buffers but modesty forbids me from posting it here.

[TonyK]

From the Joint Transport Board's website[/] we find that:

Office of Rail Regulation response to the case for a level crossing at Quays Avenue in Portishead will be reported verbally to the Joint Transport Board on 13 March 2015.

North Somerset Council to decide on preferred location for Portishead station on 17 March 2015.

So, el momento de verdad, as they may say in Spain. The LEP^» (Local Enterprise Partnership - about) clearly knows the outcome already. Is the delay to be able to report fabulous news, or to let us down gently? If it is thumbs up for the crossing, why would North Somerset have a decision to make?

The case for a crossing is strong. The case against is that no-one likes a precedent.

Advanced notice by way of leaks of insider information would be welcome...

[chuffed]

There is a Portishead Railway Action Group meeting on that very same evening. I suspect that this decision, one way or the other  will be the only item on the Agenda !

[Red Squirrel]

There is a Portishead Railway Action Group meeting on that very same evening. I suspect that this decision, one way or the other  will be the only item on the Agenda !

Well let's hope PRAG-matism wins the day...

[chuffed]

A quick search for FTN's el momento de verdad seems to indicate that there is no literal English translation for this phrase. One suggestion I found was 'when push comes to shove' which I can't help thinking is a MOST unfortunate metaphor when applied to the projected re-opening of a railway line !

[TonyK]

A quick search for FTN's el momento de verdad seems to indicate that there is no literal English translation for this phrase. One suggestion I found was 'when push comes to shove' which I can't help thinking is a MOST unfortunate metaphor when applied to the projected re-opening of a railway line !

I'm pretty sure I read it a Spike Milligan book - probably Puckoon. Although not part of the same chapter, the "Puckoon Flyer" does run out of peat at one point...

[Red Squirrel]

A quick search for FTN's el momento de verdad seems to indicate that there is no literal English translation for this phrase. One suggestion I found was 'when push comes to shove' which I can't help thinking is a MOST unfortunate metaphor when applied to the projected re-opening of a railway line !

Really? Google translate gives 'the moment of truth', which fits rather well with FT, N!'s context I'd say!

[chuffed]

Wouldn't it be unfortunate,if during the clearance, a colony of 'Sciurus vulgaris' were to be found in need of re-homing.....could almost be a Drey Fuss affair....