Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[chuffed]

Portishead rail update
Date:
21/01/2016
​Despite comments published to the contrary, North Somerset Council has confirmed that work will begin on the Portishead line in 2018 as previously stated, although the complexities of the construction work may see the opening of the line to rail services moving from May 2019 to around about the year end.

Progress on Metrowest phase 1 ^ which will provide improved services to Bath, Severn Beach and new services on the line to Portishead ^ will be officially reported to the Joint Transport Board next week.

Outline design work is progressing well and is on schedule for completion this April. This work has identified a number of engineering challenges which the team is working through before statutory consultation begins in June.  An application for a Development Consent Order will then be made in November ^ this is required before any construction on the line can begin. It is expected to take up to 18 months for the secretary of state to grant planning consent, after which work on the line can begin.

The outcome of the consultation from last summer has also recently been published. A total of 599 people attended the four manned public exhibition events and 858 consultation responses have been received. A number of responses from statutory bodies (for example Historic England and utility companies) have also been submitted.

The level of support for the project is very high with 95% of responses either supporting entirely or mainly supporting the proposals. The report sets out in detail the level of support for the individual elements of the project and the areas of concern, which generally relate to localised impacts such as parking and traffic impacts and environmental impacts.

Officers from North Somerset Council and West of England colleagues are feeding the consultation responses into the outline engineering design and following any necessary modifications stage 2 of the consultation process is expected in June.  This will provide an opportunity for people to make final comments on the proposals before the submission of the Development Consent Order planning application.

Cllr Elfan Ap Rees, North Somerset Council deputy leader who also holds the transport portfolio, said: "I am encouraged about the progress of the project, which we believe is the largest rail scheme in the country being locally funded. It is not a simple re-opening project but well worth waiting for.

"The new half-hourly service to Portishead will be far better than was ever available in the 1960s, so  is not a like for like replacement of previous infrastructure and we need to make sure that the existing freight services to the port are not adversely affected. While the project is on track to begin construction in 2018 as planned, we need to co-ordinate the work with the improvements planned by Network Rail to deliver electrification and other enhancements in the Bristol area and as always on projects of this scale and complexity, timescales are kept under review and we continue to explore opportunities to accelerate delivery."

Work on the outline engineering design began last summer and is scheduled to be completed this spring. There are three distinct engineering design elements of MetroWest Phase 1:
^       The disused line Portishead to Pill
^       Upgrading the freight line and its connection onto the main line (Parson Street Junction), and
^       Other engineering enhancement works beyond the Portishead branch line.

The engineering design must provide sufficient railway line capacity to operate both the existing freight trains and our proposed passenger train service.

There have been major land use and demographic changes along the line, since scheduled passenger trains last operated in the 1960s.  Royal Portbury Dock makes an important contribution to the local and regional economy and moving large volumes of freight by rail (that otherwise would go onto our roads), has economic and environmental benefits.  While only a few freight trains operate on any typical day at the moment, allowances have to be made for one freight train per hour in each direction, in the engineering design. The proposed passenger train service includes operating considerably more passenger trains than operated on the line in the 1960s.  The proposed half-hourly passenger train service (day time) will result in approximately 30 trains per day (Monday to Saturday) in each direction.

Providing sufficient line capacity for these freight train and passenger train presents some challenges. The four (single bore) tunnels through Avon Gorge mean the five kilometre section of track from below the Clifton Suspension Bridge to Ham Green will remain single track. This section of single track also has some environmental challenges due to the various national and European environmental designations.

So it will be necessary for the freight line speed to be increased and for the remaining sections of single track to be upgraded to double track, along with complete replacement of the signalling system. These requirements and constraints complicate the engineering design, which means the project is not about putting back the track and related infrastructure that existed in the 1960s; it's about re-building the disused line to modern engineering standards and upgrading/modernising the freight line.

Full details on the consultation can be found in the 'Report on DCO^▸ (Driver Controlled Operation) Stage 1 Consultation' at: http://travelwest.info/projects/metrowest/metrowest-phase-1

- See more at: http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/News/Pages/Portishead-rail-update.aspx#sthash.sojK4mr6.dpuf

[TonyK]

Thank you chuffed - what you found seems to be the most comprehensive outline of what is intended that I have seen so far.

So, if the DCO^▸ (Driver Controlled Operation) is submitted to the Secretary of State in November 2016, and is signed within 18 months, work could commence in summer of 2018. So long as it does, and so long as there is no further slippage, surely winter 2019 is attainable for passenger traffic?

Parson Street junction is already scheduled for improvement, because of the growth in traffic from the freightliner yard, as well as from Royal Portbury Dock. The latter will presumably lose some use as coal-fired power stations are taken out of service, but will be touting for replacement business already. The rail update from North Somerset suggests double track from Parson Street to Clifton Bridge, then single from there to the western end of Ham Green tunnel. That should mean clearing within 4 minutes or so if the speed is increased a bit. The level crossing at Ashton Gate would be problematic with any frequency of service. Traffic sometimes ends up queueing on the main road now, whenever a train is passing. The alternate access road around the rear is sensible.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I have taken the opportunity, in the interests of clarity and continuity, to move a few posts and merge them with this ongoing discussion of the Portishead Line here.

Hope this helps. CfN. 

[TonyK]

I have taken the opportunity, in the interests of clarity and continuity, to move a few posts and merge them with this ongoing discussion of the Portishead Line here.

Hope this helps. CfN. 

I was going to have a bash at doing it myself - thanks CfN

[Chris from Nailsea]

No worries! 

I'm looking forward to actually doing a 'Portishead Line bash' myself, sometime soon. 

[TonyK]

No worries! 

I'm looking forward to actually doing a 'Portishead Line bash' myself, sometime soon. 

Keep me posted!

[Witham Bobby]

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Date-given-work-start-Portishead-railway-station/story-29147175-detail/story.html

Things appear to be moving ...

[TonyK]

Welcome progress at last - although with our omnishambles approach, we could end up with the only two working railway stations in the world to not have a working railway.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An interesting choice by the Western Daily Press of a picture to illustrate their story:

View of line towards Portishead.

Erm, yes: that's the part of the track that cannot be used, because it's been cut off by the construction of Quays Avenue across the old trackbed. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

I'm posting my comments here, simply to avoid taking the source OkeRAIL topic off on a tangent  :

The only snag with Okehampton station is its location.  It is a 15 minute to the town (and it is uphill coming back to the station!).

Hmm... According to Google maps, that's pretty similar to the time it'll take to walk into Portishead (12 mins from Quays Ave to Cabstand). Just, as the young folk would have it, sayin'.

Thanks for your observation, Red Squirrel. 

However, if I may offer a couple of further observations on the subject:

Firstly, I'm not convinced that the rather historic definition of Cabstand as being the 'town centre' of Portishead is relevant today.  Most of the modern development (housing and commercial) has been to the east - around Quays Avenue itself.

Secondly, my impression is that those most likely to use the re-opened Portishead branch line will be those, generally young professional types, living in the myriad of residential developments around the marina.  Parking there is an absolute nightmare (I know, because I have to negotiate a Mercedes Sprinter van through it).  I'd suggest that many residents will make nothing of a level walk of maybe fifteen minutes to the new railway station near Quays Avenue - much as they probably already do now to access the various retail outlets on Harbour Way.

Just sayin'. 

[Red Squirrel]

That's a fair comment, though there's a lot of awful an awful lot of Portishead to the west of Quays Ave...

[Noggin]

Indeed, there are a lot of people living around the marina and to the east. Don't forget that a lot of commuters are likely to cycle to the station, which increases the catchment area. Also, it's possible that commuters will move into Portishead (and Pill), particularly if they can continue on to Clifton and Bath. 

[ellendune]

The new edition of Rail Magazine is reporting delays in the project due to unforeseen geometry issues in the Avon Gorge. Anyone know anymore?

[TonyK]

The new edition of Rail Magazine is reporting delays in the project due to unforeseen geometry issues in the Avon Gorge. Anyone know anymore?

From the Bristol Post:

Portishead to Bristol rail link delayed AGAIN due to issues laying track through gorge

By H_Pickstock  |  Posted: June 27, 2016



The track through the Avon Gorge for the new rail link is proving tricky to design

Technical difficulties with the design of the track through the Avon Gorge for the new Portishead to Bristol rail line have led to a delay in the scheme being submitted for Government approval.

MetroWest officials had hoped to submit a Development Consent Order (DCO^▸ (Driver Controlled Operation)) to the Secretary of State in November for the project which would see passenger trains start running again between Portishead and Bristol from 2019.

But due to technical issues and the 'environmental sensitivities' of laying track through the Avon Gorge this has now been be delayed.

The delay in the design work being completed comes because existing Portbury Freight Line needs to be upgraded to operate passenger trains at 50mph.



The old railway tracks can still be seen in Portishead

A MetroWest spokesman said: "This design work is taking longer than expected because of the environmental sensitivities of carrying out works in the Avon Gorge.

"The existing Portbury Freight Line will need be upgraded to operate passenger trains at 50mph.

"This requires the track geometry to be adjusted to straighten out a series of curves through the gorge. The existing track alignment follows a series of cliff faces, retaining walls and tunnels in the narrow space between the Gorge cliff face and river.

"This means it is taking us a bit longer to finalise our outline design than we envisaged."

The DCO process requires that outline engineering design is carried out ahead of a planning application is submitted.

It is anticipated that the design work will be completed by the autumn. A fresh round of consultation on the detailed scheme then needs to be held. The development consent order is expected to be submitted to the Government early in 2017.

The spokesman added: "Outline design work is now due to be completed this autumn and our Stage 2 formal DCO consultation will now take place following this."

MetroWest officials say that the delay in the DCO will not affect the overall timescale and trains will still start running in 2018 as planned.

Work is also being carried out to progress the design for upgrading the Parson Street junction where the Portishead branch line connects with the Taunton to Bristol main line.

Work is expected to start on the rail link in 2018.

The re-opening the Portishead branch line includes plans for a new Portishead railway station at Quays Avenue, the reopening of Pill railway station, the provision of new footbridges across the line and other work including double tracking through Pill.The opening of the Portishead line is a key priority of the Metrowest Phase One project being pioneered and funded by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP^» (Local Enterprise Partnership - about)) and is expected to cost up to£58 million. Passenger services from Portishead to Bristol were cut in 1964, although the line to Portbury Dock reopened in 2002 for freight trains only A study in 2010 showed that travel time from Portishead would be 17 minutes compared to an hour by road during peak times.

[Bmblbzzz]

So it's not just a question of laying new track on the old line. But surely these problems must have been evident as soon as they looked at the original alignment?