The 1959
WTT▸ shows that there was a speed restriction of 35mph over the whole line, with further local restrictions of 20mph and 10mph at the crossing loops. There has been no need for Network Rail or its predecessors to upgrade anything down there since those days.
The original line was single between Clifton Bridge and Portishead, with passing loops at Oak Wood, Pill and Portbury Shipyard. In order to increase the line speed from 30 to 50 then it is possible that some curves may need to be eased and, if that is the case, land purchase may be involved together perhaps with some major engineering work – there is a lot of very solid rock right next to the single line down in that gorge…
Certainly there are things that will need to be done that were not needed when the line was built. For example, level crossings are frowned upon these days and there is at least one at Ashton that will need dealing with, and probably expensively. There would also be new stations to pay for, although seeing the extent of the facilities usually provided these days when new stations open, the costs of these isn’t going to be extortionate.
Furthermore, bearing in mind the financial debacle that the
GWR▸ electrification project has become, I can understand why people are erring on the side of caution when it comes to costing projects such as this.
However, and all that said, the line is rather less than 10 miles long (9 miles 49 chains from Parson Street Junction to the original Portishead station), and most of it is still there. The latest estimate of £145m to £175m does not compare particularly favourably with the £350m for the construction of the Borders Railway which is 35.5 miles long and needed complete reconstruction from the outskirts of Edinburgh:
http://www.railfuturescotland.org.uk/bordersrailway.phpWhilst those costs for the Borders Railway are at 2012 prices, inflation is not high at the moment so, for round figures, we are now being told that although the Portishead branch is one-third of the length of the Borders Railway it will cost one half of that railway’s cost, despite the fact that the line is generally all still there.
On the face of it, something appears to be gravely amiss somewhere, and I for one would like to know a lot more about how those costs have been arrived at.
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