The approach road at Temple Meads, I understand, is not part of the council's highway network and so belongs to whichever arm of the rail network controls the station.

I have always felt that the design of the approach road is very poor from the point of view of public transport movements, and this year I have often had to catch the number 8 bus here so have had more experience of it. That bus stops closer to the station entrance than other services, which is good (especially when the weather is inclement), but it means that the bus then has to follow the road past the entrance and back down to the traffic lights at the bottom of the approach road. In doing that, it has to compete with all the taxis and also with all the private cars that have to drive past the entrance to reach the drop off point.

Allowing private cars to come right up to the entrance to reach the drop off area has always seemed a particularly foolish bit of design, as they will inevitably block public transport. Last week, on a visit here, it took 15 minutes from when the bus left the stop to reach the traffic lights, as the whole road around the station entrance was in gridlock. I also noticed that this meant that taxis were using the drop off driveway as a means of avoiding the gridlock and then joining the approach road halfway down the road, and by doing so getting ahead of the vehicles that stuck to the approach road route, including buses.

In busy times, it must be impossible to run the number 8 bus to anything like the timetable, and must be very frustrating for its passengers and their drivers.

Will this all change once the new rear entrance to the station opens? I assume there must be some sort of liaison between the rail operators and bus operators about the traffic arrangements here.