Leaders reveal vision for West of England rail network

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

A new vision for rail travel in the West of England shows how the area could nearly halve journey times between major cities and rural spots.

Political leaders from across the region and South Wales have set out their vision for how the area's train services should look by 2050.

Trains journeys from Bristol to London could take an hour, and Bristol to Cardiff, only 30 minutes, they claimed.

Plans would cost £7-8bn and would require investment from the government.

Currently the area lags behind other parts of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) with slower train times.

Led by the Western Gateway Partnership, in collaboration with Transport for Wales, the new vision shows drastically improved journeys inside the area, as well as to London and elsewhere in the UK.

Cardiff in particular has been identified by the government as being the "least well directly connected major city" in the UK.

The vision promotes increasing capacity to allow up to four trains per hour between Bristol and Cardiff, reducing journey times between the cities from 50 to 30 minutes.

Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol and Western Gateway board member, said: "Better public transport between major cities like Bristol and Cardiff is essential to decarbonise and grow our economy.

"With over 80,000 car journeys taking place over the M4 Prince Of Wales Bridge every day, and predictions that this will increase, we desperately need long term solutions."

Plans also suggests journey times between Swansea and Bristol could be dramatically reduced from an hour and a half, once an hour, to 60 minutes with three trains per hour.

Councillor Toby Savage, leader of South Gloucestershire Council, said: "We believe it is time that the government acknowledged that our area should be next in line for investment to unlock our potential."

The Western Gateway is made up of local authorities, businesses and universities from across the South West and South Wales.

[Timmer]

A good place to start would be to finish the job of electrification between Parkway/Chippenham and Temple Meads.

[infoman]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) points west had some film footage,and on top  of one of the buildings opp BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI))(not sure which one).

approx 15 minutes

available for 24 hours only

[Red Squirrel]

Looks like they were filmed at Glass Wharf, which is where Burges Salmon have their offices.

This initiative seems to be backed by the Western Gateway Partnership, which is not to be confused with the Western Gateway STB. The Partnership covers Bristol, Cardiff, Newport and Bath, while the STB covers Bristol, Bath and Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole. It’s confusing!

The STB has backed a strategy which would see four tracking from Bristol Parkway to Westerleigh and Keynsham to Bath, as well as capacity improvements between the Severn Tunnel and Bristol Parkway (Pilning anyone?). It’s easy to see how this could soak up a fair chunk of the £8bn they quote, especially if we add electrification to the mix.

[Noggin]

Have lost the link but the strategy document (which I presume this is based on) published a few weeks ago is an interesting read, very pragmatic and well thought out.

It's a shame that the headline figure is the one that's got picked up as it outlined a lot of relatively inexpensive things that could be done within this decade to get station re-openings and services to half hourly (including Portishead branch), with the big-ticket items such as quadrupling in the more distant future when presumably they could be avoided no more.

As I read it I wondered if the extent of the quadrupling proposed was a tactic to get Bristol Parkway to Westerleigh Jcn (which is probably the most needed) over the line. 

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly), Electrification was only mentioned once but was effectively "electrify all the things"

There was also the separate union connectivity review which seemed to be a rather nice excuse to get funding from Westminster for a lot of new stations in South East Wales (no problem with that, good on em)

[broadgage]

My vision for the West of England rail network would include proper intercity trains for the long distance services.
Fixed formation 9 or 10 car, no "flexible train length" which in practice means shorter.
A locomotive or power car at each end, no under floor engines.
Bi mode operation to permit of through running to non electrified areas, and for when the wires come down.
Padded seats.
Luggage space, to allow surfboards and other bulky holiday luggage.
Selective door opening for short platforms.
A full size buffet, not a micro buffet or parked trolley.
A Pullman restaurant on selected services.

Design speed 125 mph on OHLE and 100 mph on diesel.

[TaplowGreen]

My vision for the West of England rail network would include proper intercity trains for the long distance services.
Fixed formation 9 or 10 car, no "flexible train length" which in practice means shorter.
A locomotive or power car at each end, no under floor engines.
Bi mode operation to permit of through running to non electrified areas, and for when the wires come down.
Padded seats.
Luggage space, to allow surfboards and other bulky holiday luggage.
Selective door opening for short platforms.
A full size buffet, not a micro buffet or parked trolley.
A Pullman restaurant on selected services.

Design speed 125 mph on OHLE and 100 mph on diesel.

Genuinely, I'd never have guessed 

[broadgage]

Genuinely, I'd never have guessed 

I have avoided unduly frequent criticism of IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train) because I am well aware that some people like them, and that others consider buffets, padded seats, and space for holiday luggage to be needless luxuries that cant be afforded these days.
I am not convinced that (often) shorter trains are better.
My views have wide support, look on trip advisor, where the seating discomfort, the effective absence of catering and the degree of overcrowding are frequently complained about.

[IndustryInsider]

I think it’s safe to say that Broadgage is back!

[a-driver]

And Broadgage is spot on as well.

Give the passenger a reason to travel by rail.

[TaplowGreen]

I think it’s safe to say that Broadgage is back!

No need for crystal balls!