New Stations for Bristol Commuters

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Bristol Post headlines Here is where one councillor would like to see new railway stations opened.    There's been lots of talk of lots or stations ... which do YOU feel should be (re)opened ...

[Red Squirrel]

Some of the stations on the list are low-hanging fruit - I'm not aware of any significant obstacles to Ashley Down, Henbury, North Filton and Portway Parkway. Portishead, Pill and Ashton Gate ought to be easy.

Many of the others are more problematic as they demand paths on busy main lines, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to happen. I'd even go so far as to say there are omissions: Winterbourne and Long Ashton spring to mind.

Some people haven't voted for all 16... are they prepared to say which ones they missed out, and why?

[Bmblbzzz]

Only 16 votes? Spoilsport! I can't see Ashley Hill on the list, which is one I'd like to vote for.

[johnneyw]

Some of the stations on the list are low-hanging fruit - I'm not aware of any significant obstacles to Ashley Down, Henbury, North Filton and Portway Parkway. Portishead, Pill and Ashton Gate ought to be easy.

Many of the others are more problematic as they demand paths on busy main lines, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to happen. I'd even go so far as to say there are omissions: Winterbourne and Long Ashton spring to mind.

Some people haven't voted for all 16... are they prepared to say which ones they missed out, and why?

Okay, I missed out Horfield. Rightly or wrongly, I reckoned it was a no no if Ashley Down is reopened.

[martyjon]

Some people haven't voted for all 16... are they prepared to say which ones they missed out, and why?

I didn't see 16 stations listed to vote for, what are they ?

Okay, I missed out Horfield. Rightly or wrongly, I reckoned it was a no no if Ashley Down is reopened.

To my thinking it is a Yes Yes, its quite a trek from the Bonnington Walk, Constable Road and Gainsborough Square areas to Ashley Hill site whereas there is room for platforms on the relief lines at the site of the former Horfield station location.

Ahh, Horfield, the station where I set off for my first visit to London with my dad and brother on the occasion of an international schoolboys football match at Wembley between England and Scotland. A charter train from the Bristol Area to Paddington filled with hundreds of excited schoolboys and their family members to see England beat Scotland by just a single goal. A day that I remember to this day, riding on a London bus, sightseeing tour of London, lunch at a Lyons Corner Coffee shop, walking up Wembley Way and finishing with a short ride on the underground from Paddington to Warwick Avenue and back before out return charter train to Horfield station.

[johnneyw]

But are they too close together to be a realistic proposition? Especially now that the passive provision at Horfield seems to be out of the window?

[TonyK]

The original Horfield station site is too close to Filton Abbey Wood, although it was probably just far enough away from Filton. The site at Constable Road favoured by some is not too close to the site at Ashley Down favoured by many - if the line is electrified and suitable rolling stock used. I'm not sure of the distance though - greater or less than Clifton Down to Redland, Redland to Montpelier, or Stapleton Road to Lawrence Hill. They are all within a stroll of each other on a nice day, but very well used.

[grahame]

Remiss of me to leave out Ashley Down (is that the same as Ashley Hill?) , Winterbourne and Long Ashton.  Exceptionally, as this is something of a 'fun' and thought provoking poll rather than designed to gather evidence, I'm tempted to edit on the fly ...

Horfield to become Horfield and/or Ashley Down
Coalpit Heath to become Coalpit Heath and/or Winterbourne
Flax Bourton to become Flax Bourton and/or Long Ashton

One of the posters has commented that not everyone has been voting for all the stations.  Indeed; a maximum of a quarter of voters have done so - others have been bit more selective.  Nothing wrong with voting for them all - indeed given a long long look into the future and growth rates of this decade continued, they could all happen; I suspect others have been more pragmatic and looked at a shorter term.  Nothing scientific expected in the results ... a tiny, self selecting sample and we are imbys (opposite of nimbys - wanting stations "In My Back Yard".

[martyjon]

Horfield. Ahh, forgot 'the ladder' to change from reliefs to mains around the site of the former Horfield station site. Of course in the days of the FORMER four tracking this ladder was a single lead with slips in the other direction from the mains to the reliefs under the control of the Filton Incline Signal Box and Filton Junction Signal Box controlled double tracked switches from the South Wales line to the main and relief lines and also from Stoke Gifford to the main and relief lines.

Many memories of sitting in Filton Junction Signal Box with my school chum whose father was a signalman there.

Excuse for that, we took his dads cooked Sunday Lunch down to the box on our bikes and waited while he ate it so we could bring the dirty (enamel) plate back. Enamel because if it was busy and the stove had a fire in it the hot meal could be kept hot on the stove, and if it wasn't busy, well you know who and my chum would ding a few bells and throw a few levers while his dad ate his hot Sunday Roast.

Oh for those days again, have to put my memories down on paper one day and post to this forum, you'd be surprised with what I got up too.

[Red Squirrel]

Remiss of me to leave out Ashley Down (is that the same as Ashley Hill?) ...

Indeed it is.

The old station was called Ashley Hill, but the 'reopening' proposal refers to it as Ashley Down. It's a better name; the new station is close to the City of Bristol College's extensive Ashley Down campus, but not very close to the road named Ashley Hill.

[Dispatch Box]

Remiss of me to leave out Ashley Down (is that the same as Ashley Hill?) ...

Indeed it is.

The old station was called Ashley Hill, but the 'reopening' proposal refers to it as Ashley Down. It's a better name; the new station is close to the City of Bristol College's extensive Ashley Down campus, but not very close to the road named Ashley Hill.

Settled then?

[Dispatch Box]

Badminton station would I feel be easy to open, as it is along loops and when I last looked the buildings were still there.

[Red Squirrel]

The original Horfield station site is too close to Filton Abbey Wood, although it was probably just far enough away from Filton. The site at Constable Road favoured by some is not too close to the site at Ashley Down favoured by many - if the line is electrified and suitable rolling stock used. I'm not sure of the distance though - greater or less than Clifton Down to Redland, Redland to Montpelier, or Stapleton Road to Lawrence Hill. They are all within a stroll of each other on a nice day, but very well used.

I make no apology for linking again to the CH2MHILL report on Bristol New Stations   
High Level Assessment Study – locations on Filton Bank - it's well-worth reading if you haven't already, and covers every aspect of the potential sites.

[Bmblbzzz]

Remiss of me to leave out Ashley Down (is that the same as Ashley Hill?) ...

Indeed it is.

The old station was called Ashley Hill, but the 'reopening' proposal refers to it as Ashley Down. It's a better name; the new station is close to the City of Bristol College's extensive Ashley Down campus, but not very close to the road named Ashley Hill.

Quite close to Ashley Down Road too. But if we wanted a nearby road to name the station after, how about Happy Lane?  

[froome]

The original Horfield station site is too close to Filton Abbey Wood, although it was probably just far enough away from Filton. The site at Constable Road favoured by some is not too close to the site at Ashley Down favoured by many - if the line is electrified and suitable rolling stock used. I'm not sure of the distance though - greater or less than Clifton Down to Redland, Redland to Montpelier, or Stapleton Road to Lawrence Hill. They are all within a stroll of each other on a nice day, but very well used.

I've long wondered whether a station ought to be provided at St Werburghs on the Severn Beach line, to fill the gap between Stapleton Road and Montpelier. It is quite a long hike from St Werburghs to both those stations, and neither are that easy - a climb up to Montpelier, or crossing the M32 to reach Stapleton Road. The contours in the area obviously present a challenge, but given that no parking would need to be provided (other nearby stations don't), two sites might be possible - at the high point of St Werburghs Park, so very close to the railway junction, or along Church Path, just off Ashley Hill.