Severn Beach line - timetables, engineering work, closures, incidents (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Here are the Severn Beach Line services that will not call at Lawrence Hill from May 2008 :

From Bristol Temple Meads - 0549, 1003, 1203, 1403, 1603.

From Avonmouth - 1004, 1204, 1404, 1604.

Sunday Service times :

From Bristol Temple Meads-Avonmouth - 1023, 1123, 1223, 1323, 1423, 1523, 1623, 1723.

From Avonmouth-Bristol Temple Meads - 1052, 1152, 1252, 1352, 1452, 1552, 1652, 1752.

All Sunday services call at all stations to Avonmouth.

NOTE - On Sunday 18 May 2008 and Sunday 25 May 2008, the first train of the day in each direction will be replaced by a bus service.

If you wish to be on board the first new Sunday train service to Avonmouth, please bear in mind that this will be the 1123 departure from Bristol Temple Meads on Sunday 18 May 2008.

[Lee]

Saturday timetable from 24 May 2008 :

From Bristol Temple Meads-Avonmouth - 0603, 0634, 0716, 0803, 0834, 0916, 1003, 1034, 1116, 1203, 1234, 1316, 1403, 1434, 1516, 1603, 1634, 1716, 1804, 1904, 2034, 2215.

From Avonmouth-Bristol Temple Meads - 0635, 0715, 0804, 0835, 0915, 1004, 1035, 1115, 1204, 1235, 1315, 1404, 1435, 1515, 1604, 1635, 1715, 1804, 1904, 1957, 2139, 2304.

Train services extend through to St Andrews Road & Severn Beach every 2 hours during the daytime :

Trains from Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach on Saturdays will be: 0716, 0916, 1116, 1316, 1516, 1716, 1804, 1904, 2034 and 2215.

Trains from Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads on Saturdays will be: 0754, 0954, 1154, 1354, 1554, 1754, 1854, 1947, 2129 and 2254.

On Saturdays, rail-link bus services will also operate between Avonmouth-Severn Beach :

Buses from Avonmouth to Severn Beach on Saturdays will be: 0833, 1033, 1233, 1433 and 1633.

Buses from Severn Beach to Avonmouth on Saturdays will be: 0855, 1055, 1255, 1455 and 1655.

NOTE - On Saturday 24 May 2008 and Saturday 31 May 2008, the last train of the day in each direction will be replaced by a bus service.

[Lee]

The rail service on the Severn Beach line has been designated as a Community Rail Service (links below.)
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=364268&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7326180.stm

Quote from DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) Rail Minister, Tom Harris :

I am delighted to make this announcement on the day that I meet with representatives of the West of England Partnership to talk about rail issues in their area.

See link below for background.
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1758.msg12114#msg12114

[Lee]

Strangely enough, the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) also announced on the same day as the meeting that they are making up to ^500,000 available to the West of England Partnership to take forward the development of their proposals for improved public transport and demand management..... (link below.)
http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/statements/wmstransportinnovation

The West Of England Partnership was previously awarded ^675,000 In TIF^▸ (Transport Innovation Fund) Pump-Priming Funding in January 2008 (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1450.msg8844#msg8844

The TIF Pump-Priming Funding is mentioned in the article link below, which also reports that traffic in Bristol is the slowest in the country.
http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144913&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231190&home=yes&more_nodeId1=144922&contentPK=20307640

[Lee]

Bristol City Council Press Release :

Fifty-four more trains per week on Severn Beach Line

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 funding will provide an extra two-coach train set and traincrews, and will establish a roughly 40 minute train frequency on the route. This will mean three trains every two hours in both directions between Bristol Temple Meads and Avonmouth (Monday to Saturday). In the mornings and evenings most services continue to Severn Beach, and between the morning and evening peaks one train every two hours goes beyond Avonmouth (replacingingthe current bus link. Also, for the first time, there will be an hourly service between Bristol Temple Meads and Avonmouth on Sundays.

In all, Bristol City Council will fund fifty four more round trips a week for the Severn Beach Line including eight on a Sunday. 

Monday to Friday - an additional eight round trips per day, making 23 round trips in total - ( a greater than 50% increase on last May)

Saturday - an additional six round trips, making 22 in total

Sunday - a completely new service of eight round trips 

... and better stations too ^

Stations in Greater Bristol including all those on the popular Severn Beach Railway will benefit from over ^400,000 of new funding including ^196,500 Access for All funding from the Department of Transport which was achieved through two bids from the West of England Partnership and Bristol City Council.

The project is also funded by Bristol City Council, First Great Western and South Gloucestershire Council. Work will commence in April 2008. The work will be finished by March 2009. 

The awards mean that stations along the route, and Patchway in South Gloucestershire, will benefit from improved signage, lighting, seating, access routes, shelters and customer information.

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. 

Councillor Mark Bradshaw, Executive Member for Access and Environment, said: ^We are pleased that the service improvements and station upgrades will now become a reality. The financial support from Bristol City Council and its partners has been key to this and demonstrates the strength of our joint working arrangements. The improvements have been long awaited and will help to offer the prospect of a more reliable service. 

^We now intend to look at additional measures such as Clifton turnback, to improve reliability, if technical and funding issues can be resolved. And we will want to see how, working with partners, we can better promote the services and encourage more people to make use of them. 

^We view local rail services as a key part of our overall shared aim to encourage less use of the car. We are committed to working with our partners to achieve improved local and strategic rail services. The West of England Partnership has met with the Rail Minister Tom Harris MP^▸ (Member of Parliament). We have a clear success story in the Severn Beach package. We now want to take this further and work towards improvements to the region's rail network.^

BCC^» (Bristol City Council - about) bid
Total scheme cost ^220,500
BCC and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) combined ^110,500
DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) ^110,500

WEP bid
Total scheme cost ^180,000
BCC c.^74,000
S.Glos Council c.^20,000
DfT ^86,000 

Stations along the route are:

Avonmouth; Clifton Down; Lawrence Hill; Montpelier; Redland; St Andrews; Sea Mills; Severn Beach; Shirehampton; Stapleton Road.

Patchway Station in South Gloucestershire will also benefit from improvements as part of the scheme.

[grahame]

I have split off the remaining posts into a "Portishead" thread:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2384.0

Please carry on here on Severn Beach!

[Mojo]

And now we hear no Sunday services after 7 Sept 

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Documents/Custom/DC%20MAY%202008%20TIMETABLE/Bristol%20Temple%20Meads%20to%20Severn%20Beach.pdf

[Lee]

And now we hear no Sunday services after 7 Sept 

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Documents/Custom/DC%20MAY%202008%20TIMETABLE/Bristol%20Temple%20Meads%20to%20Severn%20Beach.pdf

Well, my first reaction was that this restriction on the months that the Sunday service operates must have been mentioned somewhere. However, I've checked through the press releases and I cant find anything.....

Transport Briefing related article (link below.)
http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/story.php?id=4875

[Lee]

And now we hear no Sunday services after 7 Sept 

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Documents/Custom/DC%20MAY%202008%20TIMETABLE/Bristol%20Temple%20Meads%20to%20Severn%20Beach.pdf

Well, my first reaction was that this restriction on the months that the Sunday service operates must have been mentioned somewhere. However, I've checked through the press releases and I cant find anything.....

Answer from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) :

Sunday services to Avonmouth operate all year round; shown in error in NRT^▸ (Network Rail Telecoms) as dated.

[Lee]

The rail-link bus makes a cameo appearance :

09:54 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads due 10:32
This train will be started from Avonmouth.It will no longer call at: Severn Beach and St Andrews Road.This is due to signalling problems.

Replacement road transport has been arranged.

[grahame]

As far as I can see, the service was cancelled yesterday from 11:52 to 14:52 inclusive from Avonmouth - just a week after the launch of the service.  And that launch delayed because the "official" start weekend was buses rather than trains.  Have I really read this right? 

I used to think we had it uniqely bad ... I had yet another "taxi run" to do up to Chippenham last night because a customer arriving from Nottingham had been delayed by a connecting train and failed to connect into the only train of the day from Swindon to Melksham ... but looks like there's a "most likely to have problems" competition between us and "The Beach" 

[Mojo]

The main 'official' launch day, with the "big cheeses" was last weekend, and it was very popular. With even more publicity I should imagine it was a disaster this weekend, especially given the weather (though on the other hand people might have preferred to do something else this weekend rather than spend a hot Sunday on a train  ).

I have it on very good authority that an internal investigation is underway at FGW^▸ (First Great Western) involving some people rather high up.

[Lee]

FOSBR^▸ (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways) link regarding the 8 June cancellations.
http://www.fosbr.org.uk/8thJne.htm

Photos of launch of the Sunday service on 1 June, courtesy of Andrew Griffiths (link below.)
http://www.fosbr.org.uk/magazine.php?magid=0000000135

Bristol Zoo Gardens are offering one free child (aged 3 -14 years old) entry with a full paying adult on production of a valid train travel ticket to Clifton Down station.  The offer is valid on the following Sundays only - 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th June 2008 (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=86

[Mojo]

Confirmation recieved from Keith Walton at SCRP that Free Sunday travel offer is to be extended to next Sunday 15th June.

[Lee]

Bristol Evening Post article links.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=20850376&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=20850356&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922