Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

This topic is a sideshoot from a discussion about Severn Beach at
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2078.0
I felt it merited its own thread and was starting to get a life of its own! - Graham

Bristol City Council Press Release :

Bristol City Council is investing ^395k pa on providing more train services on the Severn Beach Line under a three year contract with First Great Western, starting on 18 May 2008.

The Severn Beach Line has enjoyed a surge in popularity over the last 10 years and now carries over half a million passengers a year. 

... and, with a similarly suitable level of 'investment', how many passengers could even now be enjoying train services from Portishead to Bristol?

[Lee]

Bristol City Council Press Release :

Bristol City Council is investing ^395k pa on providing more train services on the Severn Beach Line under a three year contract with First Great Western, starting on 18 May 2008.

The Severn Beach Line has enjoyed a surge in popularity over the last 10 years and now carries over half a million passengers a year. 

... and, with a similarly suitable level of 'investment', how many passengers could even now be enjoying train services from Portishead to Bristol?

Unfortunately, there has been an official view that a showcase bus route is the way forward for the Portishead corridor.

[grahame]

Unfortunately, there has been an official view that a showcase bus route is the way forward for the Portishead corridor.

At a risk of being labelled "out of area", I am up in Cambridge at the moment, working just a few hunderd yards from the trackbed of the Cambridge to St Ives line.  Used until the 1970s (?), it was then left to moulder and is now being ripped up and a guided busway laid in its place.

The people I'm working with (happen to be two separate companies last week and this) all come in to work by a variety of means - very early, very late, cycle from Ely, motorbike, etc - to overcome the traffic, and I've chosen a hotel based on trafficability rather than what I would normally choose to avoid too much hassle.   And they are saying "what's the point of replacing rail" and "why didn't they start with something as simple as extending some trains that terminate at Cambridge through to a science park station?" and "why not simply refurbish the railway / improve that".  It certainly seems to me that the guided bus has been foisted on the general user here rather than being their preference, which would have been strongly for a train service!

Lots of questions there and perhaps lessons for Portishead there.  Lee or anyone else - do you have a different persepective on this?

[Lee]

Below is the Government Office Of The South West view on Portishead line re-opening :

Your comments and concerns have been noted. The re-opening of the line was considered as part of the Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study (GBSTS). The final report can be found on our website at

http://www.gosw.gov.uk/gosw/transport/regtransstrat/gbsts/?a=42496.

The study looked at the problems and issues in the area and considered many options for addressing them. The conclusion of the study indicated that a showcase bus route is the recommended scheme for this corridor in the short and medium term and possibly a rapid transit scheme in the longer term. The report was presented to the partners of the study, including the four Greater Bristol authorities, to look at the findings and investigate a way forward.

We await the outcome of their deliberations.

So indeed, something similar to what is currently happening to the Cambridge to St Ives line could happen to the Portishead line in the longer term. More on the Cambridge-St Ives line issue can be found in the links below.
http://www.castiron.org.uk/

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/guided/what/

Of course, if you were to do the same thing on the Portishead line, you would have to work out what to do with the growing number of freight trains running (and projected to run in the future) out of Portbury.

[eightf48544]

Of course, if you were to do the same thing on the Portishead line, you would have to work out what to do with the growing number of freight trains running (and projected to run in the future) out of Portbury.

The freight problem is exactly why Portishead is ideal for tram/trains they can easily share the line with freight trains. They can start in the centre of Portishead and run through the streets to connect with the heavy rail and run into Bristol and then onto  the streets again. Giving a centre to centre service.

Let's hope they don't approve a busway until the St. Ives scheme has been evaluated. Who knows busways might prove a success!

[Lee]

Letter from Joe Patrick of FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) to the Bristol Evening Post that is relevant to this.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144936&command=displayContent&sourceNode=144919&contentPK=20351321&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch

[Lee]

The next Portishead Railway Group meeting will be held on Tues 19 August 2008, 7:30 pm in the Folk Hall, High Street, Portishead.

[John R]

This weekend's Telegraph Property supplement has a feature on Portishead. In it, it describes the commute to Bristol as "20 mins on a good day".  Xmas Day maybe, but 45 mins to an hour on a normal working day would be nearer the truth.

I only hope that nobody buys a house in the town on the basis of that information.   

[Lee]

The Halcrow study has concluded that it would be feasible to reopen the railway. A full report on the study will be available next month (link below.)
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146238&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146064&contentPK=20907119&folderPk=100268&pNodeId=145795

[John R]

"Only" 6 years? I'm sure it could be running in 3 years if the funding was available.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Agreed, John: just three miles of track to relay (the trackbed is still there), a station to build, and a bit of planning to do with timetables and allocations - and maybe provide some car parking!

It could all be done, if the money - and the will - was there.

Further details are available on the North Somerset Council website, at http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/Transport/news-20080618-portisheadraillink.htm

[signalandtelegraph]

It could all be done, if the money - and the will - was there.

"Only" 6 years? I'm sure it could be running in 3 years if the funding was available.

How can we get Portishead to become part of Wales (or Scotland)?  That'll get it sorted!

[John R]

We wouldn't need to  - it would already have happened.

Maybe the residents of Portishead could have a refarendum and vote to become part of Wales - free prescriptions too as well, though they probably wouldn't like the fact that station announcements would be in Welsh first.

[Lee]

The view from Portishead Railway Group (link below.)
http://www.fosbr.org.uk/Portishead.htm

[Chris from Nailsea]

... and the view from the Clevedon Mercury:

The most detailed analysis yet of creating a rail link for Portishead has been completed. And it could be full steam ahead for the line as the study shows no insurmountable objects to creating a rail route to Bristol. Rail campaigners and local councillors were given a presentation earlier this week of a feasibility study carried out by consultants on behalf of North Somerset Council. The study and its outcome have been broadly welcomed by rail campaigners.

Portishead Railway Group membership secretary Peter Maliphant said: "We were pleased with the report and pleased there are identifiable steps to move forward. Lots of people said it was good to hear what was possible rather than reasons why we should not do it."

The study looked at several different options, based on one train per hour between Portishead and Bristol Temple Meads, either direct or stopping at interim stations such as Pill and Ashton Gate. It also evaluated the cost of building infrastructure, including a new station for Portishead west of Quays Avenue, and re-laying track between the town and the existing Portbury Dock spur.

Depending on options chosen, detailed calculations show infrastructure is likely to cost between ^7.5 and ^15 million, while annual operating costs would be between ^1.6 and ^2.4 million, of which approximately a third will need to be covered by a subsidy. Identifying funding will now be the subject of ongoing work, as will a more detailed analysis of the route to meet Network Rail rail planning guidance.

See http://www.thisisclevedon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=223432&command=displayContent&sourceNode=224133&contentPK=20909139&folderPk=104742&pNodeId=224152