ex Freightliner Depot south of Parson Street

[whole diary]

[slippy]

Return path shows as: 4L32 11:00 Parson Street Junction to Tilbury. 

However today it ran as:4L32 11:00 Avonmouth West Warf to Tilbury. 

[JaminBob]

Hi Slippy.

How do you find out these times? I've always wanted to see a train going through the gorge, but never managed!

Thanks.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hi, JaminBob, and welcome to the Coffee shop forum!

I understand there are three trains a week running from the Freightliner depot, as well as the car transporter trains from Avonmouth. I've no idea of the timings, though!

[JaminBob]

Thanks chris from nailsea.

A semi empty car transporter ran through when I was waiting for the 08:36 this am. But I don't think i've seen this one before. /shrugs

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Network Rail press release:

10,000 LORRIES OFF THE ROAD WITH BRISTOL'S NEW FREIGHT TERMINAL

Red, white and also green ^ these are the new colours for the 8.96m bottles of wine, which will be wheeled into Bristol by trains every year.  This owes to a joint scheme by Network Rail and Freightliner, which have reinstated a short section of disused track near Bristol Temple Meads, enabling seven wine trains to terminate at South Liberty Lane depot every week. 

This initiative supports Trans Ocean's - a global leader in wine bulk liquid logistics - business in managing the movement of all wine imports into one of Europe's largest wine facilities in Avonmouth, owned by Constellation Europe.

The new rail freight services will help remove over one million road miles of lorry journeys from already congested roads in the country, whilst significantly cutting carbon footprints.  By using rail,  Trans Ocean and Constellation Europe will also benefit from an efficient and streamlined supply chain with a low risk of demurrage costs.

Peter Willey, senior freight manager, Network Rail said: ^Britain relies on rail and the value of rail freight is considerable. For businesses, rail freight can offer a cheaper, quicker and more practical alternative to moving goods by road. Almost ^700m of social and environment benefits each year can be attributed to freight traffic on Britain^s railways. For instance, around 80,000 tonnes of waste from Bristol are removed by rail annually."

"Without the railway, the anticipated growth in freight traffic over the next 30 years would mean an extra 1.5m lorry journeys on Britain^s roads each year. Each freight train can take up to 60 lorries off the roads and by shifting traffic from already congested roads to rail will bring greater future benefits.^

Simon Williams, senior vice president supply chain, Constellation Wines Australia and Europe, says: ^The new initiatives enable us to both streamline our supply chain operations and reduce carbon emissions. As such, we are extremely happy to endorse and implement the innovative initiatives that Trans Ocean will provide.^

Among the companies in Bristol relying on rail freight include the Bristol City Council, Whatley, Merehead and Bristol Port.

The old freight terminal in Bristol was closed in 1992, owing to lack of demand in freight.  Work was carried out to renew the life-expired track and existing signalling equipment was tested and recycled for use.

Demand for rail freight has grown by 70% over the last decade across the country.  This demand is predicted to grow by 30% over the next decade, and up to 140% over 30 years nationally.

Government figures show that in the next ten years rail freight could deliver environmental benefits worth well over ^4 billion.  The rail freight industry directly contributes ^870 million to the nation^s economy every year, but actually supports an economic output of ^5.9 billion, six times its direct turnover.

[bristolkiwi]

Hello,

Anyone know what kind the rail-use was used on the site before it was closed in 1992?  Did they use South Liberty Lane to move containers, etc off the site?

Cheers

[johoare]

Hello bristolkiwi,

Welcome to the forum.. I don't know the answer to your question unfortunately, but hopefully someone will 

[Super Guard]

From the Network Rail press release:

For instance, around 80,000 tonnes of waste from Bristol are removed by rail annually.

Even more if XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) emptied their toilet tanks more often... 

[Tim]

XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) have "special tanks".  They don't need empting.  The waste simply evaporates and is harmlessly released into the passenger saloon.

[Phil]

ha ha!

Would be funny if it wasn't so very true....

[John R]

Resurrecting an old topic I know, but work has started in the last week to clear the long siding that runs parallel to the main line for around a quarter of a mile south west of the depot. Today it was cleared right up to the buffers of vegetation that has grown up over the last 25 or so years.

I'm guessing this will permit an additional train to be stored out of the way of the main depot, thus enabling more than the one train a day to run. (At the moment there is room for a second, which is usually used over the weekend.)

Good to see that the depot is thriving two years after it was reopened.

[TonyK]

Very interesting stuff! Excellent to see freight traffic in Bristol is getting bigger. I understand that the siding is connected directly to the up relief line now, but will be moved to connect to the up main when the junction for Portbury (and hopefully Portishead!) is doubled, and the signalling upgraded. So it says in the GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) 3 report, which suggests a weekend possession.

Now, I may be thick, and there may be a very simple answer, but if the wine warehouse where the beautiful tipple is bottled is in Avonmouth, would it not have been sensible to run the train to Avonmouth and load / unload it there? There is plenty of unused rail line there, such as Cabot Park, which was marketed as a multi-modal business park, but has yet to see the rail link used, AFAIK^▸ (as far as I know).