Great Western Coffee Shop

Bristol Temple Meads - Clifton Down - Anytime Day Single (With Railcard) Pre 2013 Increases: ^0.75 Post 2013 Fare Increases: ^0.75

Ticket was printed from an Avantix at the BRI Gateline though so maybe the machine hasn't been updated? Another ticket I bought today from Bath Spa ticket office was ^15.20 and increase from ^14.65 Pre 2013.

Does anyone know if the Severn Beach Line Fares are not changing? I believe Bristol City Council subsidise the SVB line so maybe the council increased the subsidy to prevent a fare increase? Still I wouldn't mind paying more than ^0.75 to travel to Clifton as that is considerably cheaper than the bus fare. Even though I have a bus pass so don't pay after 9AM. Sometimes the cost can be justified over the time saved as the train is much quicker and slightly more convenient than say the No. 1 Bus.

The fares have been ^1.50/^2.00/^6.00 (single/return/week) or 75p/^1.00 (railcard) since at least 2008, albeit for the brief period where Avantix was not correctly applying the 50% discount for the railcard.

I'm guessing the increase in passenger numbers has negated the need to increase fares.

Fares wholly on the Severn Beach Line remain unchanged. A little crumb from FGW and Bristol City Council.

The subsidy has been steadily reduced over the past few years thanks both to increased ridership and better revenue collection. But what the actual current subsidy is something I've asked of Councillor Tim Kent (who holds the transport brief) on a few occasions in the past year. The emails and voicemails have never been replied to.

So I don't know the subsidy, nor the reason for the reticence of Bristol City Council in divulging the information. You've remind me to chase this one up. Thanks.  ;)

It was initially (2008) ^450,000 pa for 3 years. That was reduced to ^200,000 pa as of 2011, and I have heard it was halved again last year, but have not had that confirmed. In 2010, S Glos provided a subsidy sufficient to extend all Sunday services to Severn Beach, rather than Avonmouth. I'm not sure how much, but I'm sure it isn't a closely guarded secret.

The intention is for DafT to take over subsidy of the SVB line from 2015. Tim Kent's responsibility as Cabinet Member for Transport is one of the powers transferred to the new Mayor of Bristol in November.

Severn Beach is in SGC area.  Does that mean SGC are getting away with it, or are they chipping in?

AFAIK, SG are chipping in, although I don't know the amount. Their dip of hand to pocket enabled off peak and Sunday services to Avonmouth to be extended to Severn Beach. It seems they rather rode on Bristol's coat-tails, or at least let the bigger authority test the water before joining in. But there are 11 stations (soon to be 12) on the line. Only Severn Beach and St Andrews Road are in S Glos. I don't think they can be accused of getting away with it, when the sizes of the populations within reach of the stations is considered.

Strange that this isn't being promoted by WEP rather than individual councils, given that Weston and Bath could benefit from greater mobility in the area, but that's what you get when you can't agree to an ITA. Or when your transport consultants for your BRT project are the same ones who recommended ripping up what was to become one of the most successful turnarounds in branch line history. Makes it look like they don't really know what they are talking about.

St Andrews Road is in Bristol UA area.

So it is! Only Severn Beach is in S Glos - not that it affects the number of Sunday passengers. No, I haven't forgotten poor old parliamentary Pilning.

But is it fair to say a fair number of trains terminate at Avonmouth rather than continue to Severn Beach?

It is indeed fair to say that, because it's true! There's a couple of early morning trains to SVB, after which they go on the odd hour xx16 from BRI. After 1716, they get a bit random. The explanation lies in the limitations imposed by the track. It is double track through Lawrence Hill and Stapleton Road, then single from Narroways Junction. There are passing loops at Clifton Down and Avonmouth, and although there are many tracks between Avonmouth and the turn for the Henbury loop, the track to SVB is effectively single from AVM.

Pre 2008, the service was really no more than a shuttle between BRI and SVB, with a bit of infill. As it is 74 minutes plus changeover time for the round trip - say 80 minutes - that doesn't make it easy to have a clockface service. They who know much more than I do about these things worked it all out, and realised that by turning back two in three services at Avonmouth, effectively a 60 minute round trip, the third service could go on to SVB, with the whole thing run using two sets. Genius!

The Greater Bristol Metro holds the promise of making things better still. Portishead to Severn Beach should be attainable within an hour - just. So should Portishead to Bath, and joy of joys so too should Severn Beach to Bath. So a half-hourly Portishead to SVB, and a half-hourly Bath to SVB will give 4tph at each station from Severn Beach to BRI.  Something I will believe when I see.

Before the use of a 2nd unit started the off-peak service was hourly from Bristol-Avonmouth with a bus serving Avonmouth-Severn Beach. The use of the 2nd set beginning in 2008 brought all day trains to Severn Beach.

W
Sorry, I got my years mixed up. What the Severn Beach residents called the "Bread Wagon" was the norm for a few years. Prior to that, all trains went to Severn Beach. I worked in Shirehampton for a while. If I missed the 16.05 to Temple Meads, there wasn't another train until almost 6pm, so I drove. It was a truly awful service, so it was no surprise it was not heavily used. This is all about attitudes to rail travel, something that is at long last improving.