A privately promoted used of the line, with open access negotiated to Ashton, with an initial (interim) terminus in the Riverside Park where some 600 metres of new light rail alignment would deliver rails under the existing Brunel Way viaduct to the South end of the currently disconnected Ashton Rail Bridge, which can be reconnected with the rail lines to Bristol Harbour. As with early railway promotion, this detail can be delivered in stages, so that a market can be tested, and revenue generated at an early stage.

The fact that the Portbury Line is effectively run as a stand-alone 'siding' from where it leaves the main line, should greatly simplify any signalling works required to develop the initial service, and no train paths would need to be found for Temple Meads. If on street running is anticipated then the pointwork that any tram-train vehicles share with heavy rail will require modified check-rails as trams have a 1380mm back to back vs heavy rail 1360mm, and dual use vehicles require special wheelsets.   

With appropriate light rail vehicles - probably a tram-train specification, using either battery or hybrid vehicles, services can then run Portishead to Bristol Harbour - closer to the City Centre than Temple Meads! with minimal major works save for the link, between the Portbury freight branch and restoring (light) rail use of the Ashton Bridge.

From Bristol Harbour - which can be an interim terminus. The options remain to restore the railway route through to Temple Meads via Challoner Street and the existing Redcliffe Tunnel - which will now require reclamation of some land, and demolition/part removal of developments made in the past 30 years or so. Alternatively, and possibly faster, would be to run on street to Broadmead, and possibly split to pass through Queen Square to head for
the Redcliffe Bridge and a route paralleling Redcliffe Way which can bring Temple Quay in to a closer relationship with Temple Meads station.

Most important move however is to get a service running Portishead to Ashton (within easy cycling distance, and a moderate walk of the City Centre) and make the relatively quick onward connection to Bristol Harbour   

Just a shout, and a call for feedback to help me keep up with goings on in this neck of the woods, and feed in my news.

Just on the horizon is the local community's investigation of what has gone wrong with the work at Dorking Deepdene. One of just 87 (now 86 since the amazing work delivered at Livingston South) stations on the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s National Network with timber in part or all of part or all of the platform decking and/or the supporting structure(s).

The timber platforms were built 50 years ago when the original station buildings were razed, and later extended to 75 feet for the Class 165/166. There is it seems no NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Group Standard for timber platform inspection and maintenance, and when the works removed the existing passenger shelters, in preparation for installing new ones.... 

Those of you who are ahead of me will point out that this is a tad short for the 80 metre Class 769's proposed for this route. - I'll start a thread on this separately

I also work with CyclingUK, and as an independent specialist in integrated transport. This embraces bikes on trains, bike hire at stations, and cycle parking/access. I tweet as BCCletts. For bikes on trains we've a few issues, and note that generally for off-peak services on popular routes we see a fairly consistent 10% of on-train passenger count travelling with bikes, on trains with 50% of fewer seats filled. For the reverse flow commuters on the Severn Beach Line however they carried out a long running survey, that showed up to 50% of the passengers travelling with bikes - after all who in their right mind would leave a bike overnight in open racks at Severn Beach or Avonmouth station on a daily basis. The extreme I gather has been 14 bikes = 100% of passengers on a 102-seat Pacer on the last service back from Barnstaple..... Even back in 1997 there seemed to be at least one Brompton per carriage on morning trains in to Paddington so goodness knows the numbers now. Figures show that the public bike hire (Just launched in Cardiff this week), has a UK average of 40% of the hires as trips to or from rail stations, and the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website includes listings of the schemes & operators at various stations, sadly this has slipped and is rather out of date,so a few reminders needed?

Cheers Dave H - follow & DM for contact via Twitter   

   

For those who want to try it out there is an automated folding bike hire facility at Guildford, and with a folding bike one can radically cut journey times door to door.  In the imminent pipeline there should be one of these appearing near Ealing Broadway early in April, with potential for other sites shortly afterwards.  The business model is that with about half of the bikes out on long term hire the units should generate a small income for the site host.

A manual pilot scheme has been running from Waterloo from May 2009 and all bikes (100) are out on long term hire.

A second detail is to have car sharing (one car shared by several different drivers as opposed to ride sharing, one trip shared by several people in one vehicle) facilities at stations with a car club.  Roll in by train and take a PAYG^▸ (Pay as you go) car to make that visit to a client just too far away to cycle or walk.

One Belgian bus & light rail operator offers a total travel package, a 1-stop point of sale for all your travel needs, and with the bus operator having a 50% share in both car and bike 'hire' operations, they get a share of any revenue surplus generated.  the icing on the cake is that they offer a scrap your car deal which makes far more sense than the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) ^1000 bung to simply move a few years back on the same old cycle. Scrapo your car and you get up to 3 years free bus travel and membership of car and bike clubs, and thus should be able to meet all your travel needs without the burden of owning a car - effectively boosting the disposable income of a typical UK household by around 20% but without any impact on the tax code (& deductions).

Car club members are also good for the railway and a reciprocal deal is that regular rail travelers are potential car club members. the annual Car Club member survey indicates that a car club member makes more than 6 times as many train trips per year as the UK NTS average.  basically everyone wins.     

Scotrail consultation for 2014 refranchising is taking place now, and it would not be that difficult to propose that a Night train franchise is offered for a single operator to run overnight services, which could include services in to Europe.  This could mean that all night, sleeper services ran with common stock and used just one London terminus - I would suggest Waterloo International as it has the platform length, and can be reached from both GW^▸ (Great Western) and WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)) main lines, and from the EC without reversal in Brent Yard.  It also retains a route out via Ashford to the Channel Tunnel. In thjis way we get the economy of one operator specialising in overnight services.  In summer there may be sufficient traffic to run Highland and Lowland services through the week but one option on weeknights would be to run a cross-channel service with 'spare' coaches.  Waterloo would actually place the sleeper service closer to some key customers - MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament), and government officials, as well as having a dedicated station option, with that station designed for the long haul traveller, releasing platform space at EUS and PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) for the morning peak.  WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) night time blockades South of Rugby could also be bypassed via the GW/GC^» (Great Central Railway - link to heritage line) joint line when required rather than the time consuming ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) diversion 

A second detail to divert HEx and GatEx to also run in to Waterloo International would provide early connections from an overnight rail service to flights and vice verse for late arrivals inbound. This would remove the confusion - especially at VIC of dumping airline pax with luggage in the melee of a busy commuter terminus, and instead having a long haul station.  It would additionally provide a BTN-WAT direct service and cut down on some churn at CPJ where all the BTN pax want to cross to the SW and all the SW pax want to get to VIC!  Again it offers a second route for GatEx via BXN and the viaduct. Obviously less of a problem at PAD but if both HEx and GatEx run at 15 min frequency in to the same station then a cross-platform interchange (or even shared stock with linked diagrams) could offer an LHR-LGW transfer in under 70 minutes.

The Scottish day coach facility should be replaced by a Voyager or Class 185 overnight switch, starting from GLC^▸ (Glasgow Central) at 00.00 and running via EDB (collecting day-coach pax from Highlands) and then running either to MAN/WVH to connect with an early departure and making all the current stops CAR-PRE-CRE^» (Crewe - next trains)-WFJ, but possibly also including BHM to offer a real range of choice for BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)/SOU/CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains) etc, at present the Highland Sleeper does offer a decent Glasgow-Bristol arriving at a time not that far removed from the old direct train (Change CRE with a choice of 2 routes).  The day coach facility for the West might be similarly served, cutting the costly stops for the sleeper itself and putting a unit with faster acceleration and lower access charges to run just ahead of the sleeper on an Up service, just behind on the Down?  The day train would also again serve BRI, and provide a late train connection in Down & Up directions with last service from BHM and Midlands, providing a start of day arrival for factory and building sites (ie by 08.00)     

So you GW guys should be responding to the Scotrail consultation as well!

Of course the original Crossrail services could have delivered you with no problems from GW^▸ (Great Western) via Ealing Broadway, North Pole or Paddington to St Pancras.  Or you could run in on the MML^» (Midland Main Line. - about) via Cricklewood

Rather unfortunately the 21st Century version of Crossrail is digging its hole rather a long way South of 3 significant interchanges for points North (EUS/SPI/KGX).  To misquote Lady Bracknell "Missing out one station is unfortunate to miss out three appears to be rather careless"

Of course we have the joined up thinking of the new Paddington to look forward to so that a direct transfer to the H&C platforms with reinstated lifts should give you a full step-free run - currently the lift from the Lawn only works well Eastbound and if the lottery puts your not the Circle Line service with a cross-platform interchange at Edgware Road.  Westbound you are perhaps best served by going clockwise on the not the Circle Line all the way from SPI to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)

Ominously the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) HST^▸ (High Speed Train) sets are only lettered for coaches A-F (in the reverse sense to ALL other HST's!) with a TSO^▸ (The Stationary Office (now OPSI)) having no identity in the middle of a 7 coach (was formation.  That along with the 11 XC HST TSO's (plus a few East Coast ones I counted at Craigentinny yesterday (and the TRUB^▸ (trailer, restaurant, unclassified, buffet)'s?) hiding at Willesden leaves a pile of coaches thet cannot be used with any of the currently available locomotives, and generally unsuitable for fast loading urban and inter-urban services.

One option might be to put a 3 phase convertor for the ETH (more compact than a diesel convertor coach) and use electric locos for push-pull. 

Ex CIE^» (Coras Iompair Eireann - Holding company for Irish transport companies - about) Mk 3's might also be available to swell the pool with regauging of bogies?

Perhaps the quickest and simplest way to release DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) stock could be to use the 3rd rail sleepers already reported to have been used for renewals on Reading-Reigate, and convert this route with infill from Wokingham and Reigate, if necessary in 2 phases.  The poor utilisation of Southern EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit)'s reversing at Reigate and laying over at Guildford should provide some trains for the stopping service between these points, and the 460's might be appropriate for Reading-Gatwick - without even needing to change the Gatwick Express Branding.   A bit of rehashing SWT^▸ (South West Trains) diagrams might even produce a few sets or just service changes to run Reading-Guildford stopping services.   

I gather that WC^▸ (Wiltshire Council (Unitary Authority)) will run from Waterloo and Cotswolds via Banbury may get more detail soon.  That still doesn't answer SWT^▸ (South West Trains) and North Downs.

Just looked at the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website - reading this about Reading you might imagine that the FGW blockade was only affecting the GW^▸ (Great Western) Main Line.  There is mention of just Didcot and Twyford.  Nothing about the SWT^▸ (South West Trains)/North Downs route which could presumably continue to operate as I suspect Reading is an end-on junction at the interface between power boxes and a relatively simple connection to commission.

No mention either of the Newbury and Basingstoke routes and whether the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services will still run via Didcot and the West curve to Basingstoke.  Presumably this is currently at T minus 26 stage of fine tuning the plans and filling in the details, preparing for the T minus 12 download to the National Timetable.

Almost worth inviting a contribution towards the Evergreen 3 Bicester-Oxford project as a diversionary route for the future albeit unlikely to deliver much in time for the substantially greater work taking place at Reading.  I also wonder if the West Curve connection to Basingstoke remains open, whether a '1-week' Workington North platform detail could save a substantial number of replacement coaches from Didcot , and put something at (or near) the proposed Green Park site.     

The pensioners pass has a lot to answer for,  but it is not the only simplified system which is open to misuse.   I've noticed thet Firstbus here in Scotland now has a big yellow & black poster calling for pensioners to state their destination when boarding, so that the pensioner pass claim can be properly recorded on the ticket machine.  The local PTE^▸ (Passenger Transport Executive) pays out on PTE passes used as well, and the rumours are of some less scrupulous operators running a virtual bus service from a desk with a ticket machine clocking it with passes of various types.  The Scottish scheme is National with ITSO smart cards and the hardware already purchased to work this sitting in storage until the bus industry and government can sort out the implementation, but it has a nice twist - at least 2 operators took the deal of pensioners having free travel on registered BUS services, to running a 1-day per week service to destinations such as Ayr racecourse (from Dundee), and naturally getting very few 'real' paying passengers. 

What this may do is to focus the bus industry on appropriate delivery - sometimes it can cost more to get the bus to the passenger that the passenger to the bus - using innovative schemes (consolidated taxi trips, bike to bus, better walking routes) to deliver the complete door to door journey.  One rural route near Reading has a 16 minute penalty on one route to serve a village that delivers a handful of fares per day.  That can add up to a bus per year extra (^100,000) that could be saved.  Plus bus has seen a huge boost this year partly as more rail staff and passengers get to know about the potential connections and partly by the simplified ^1 flat rate offer.  Add to this the detail that some on-train staff are adopting the thinking of Easyjet cabin crew who sell rail tickets on the plane to save the pain of queuing, and gain the commission from selling tickets.  Reckon we should see FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (and other) long distance conductors (or buffet staff) boosting on train sales by offering travelcards and plusbus supplements

I hope they manage a better job than the Voyagers with that exhaust - travelling XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) in Coach D the floor at the seats by luggage racks was at 40 degrees and a/c was going flat out to compensate for heat input at one end and bringing temperature down to discomfort levels of cold at the other end of the saloon.  Same in other coaches but 'hot zone' is a panel in corridor past the toilet.

A lot to be said for taking the detail from SWT^▸ (South West Trains) refurbish of Class 455 (Mk3 suburban bodyshell) and applying this to 150 refurbs - wider door opening (so 2 rugby forwards can pass shoulder to shoulder through the opening) plus removal/reduction of draught screens at the end doors to create a clear and fast loading vestibule design.  Perhaps a UK^▸ (United Kingdom)-wide plan for a 'standard' 150 refurbishment plan to bring spares (seating doorgear etc) into a simpler and interchangeable stock of parts - perhaps sharing this with EMU^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit)'s Class 317-322 and 455, and a review of combustion or retention toilets for retrofit.  (a combustion toilet -current models uses a supply of diesel plus a supply of electricity to vapourise the organic matter deposited - no retention tank, minimal smell, option to recover & use the heat for heating water to wash hands, and eliminates need for toilet drop sidings and operational, costs to service these and run trains to drop sidings).

Dipped into this - if you read the licence it is for the use of equipment which is capable of receiving (broadcast) television signals - I had for many years had VCR's and CRT^‡(resolve)/monitors which did not received TV signals and happily ignored TVL until the mother in law's complaints that she could not see Dead Enders and Consternation Street had me caving in fro domestic peace. 

I bumped into an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) member of staff attending the informative meeting in Ashford to discuss the Station Travel Plans project's second year progress.  There were some interesting initiatives raised, the massive boost to Plusbus when the ^1 flat rate promotion ran this year, and the increasing number of booking clerks who are being briefed (or remember) to ask "would you want a Plus bus/London Travelcard " when selling a basic ticket - this sells the option of a complete journey package and of course means that the rail company gets revenue potential from the whole journey and not just the rail portion.

It was also interesting to note how others are working to get their earning power up (with RATA commission) and improve passenger convenience - for example Easyjet cabin crew are selling rail tickets from Stansted, and Luton during the flight - bringing in thier commission and saving passengers a wait in the queue for rail or coach tickets at the airport. Elsewhere a bike hire operator sells inclusive day-out deals of rail travel plus bike hire - not a disjointed concept of showing your rail ticket for a discount, but selling the whole deal as a single purchase - it must work as they are still in business and with a growing portfolio of bike rides after 4 years.  Would it work if on train staff were able to promote and offer onward travel 'add-on' products, as they carry out ticket checks?

But the brilliant deal is the Taxishare idea from Milton Keynes, where the Council brokers a consolidation service to gather 3 passengers (or more) as a clustered group to fill a taxi and pay a pro rata rate for the trip to the station - doing this for commuters, who book by the week (minimum period).  The taxi operator gets a monthly settlement, and the commuters are similarly offered a widened range of billing options, with the Council deducting a percentage for sustaining and managing the system.  There is no great loss to conventional taxi business, as these customers tend to be those who would previously have driven in and filled up costly car parking spaces.  If demand develops beyond a 7 seater vehicle then a good case can be made to actually run a bus.

The Conference was organised by ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) and ACT-Travelwise - and should have post event detail on the websites

For the London commuter its a no-brainer - with a bike you save ^600 on the cost of a London Zones supplement - ^600 just about buys a basic Brompton so you pay back the cost in a year.  But better than that you reduce the train to desk time from 30+ minutes as a troglodyte including an extended period in a travelling sauna and massage parlour, to 10-15 minutes, which for those working in Whitehall can be delivered largely using routes through the Royal Parks.

Even leaving a bike at Paddington you can afford to have 2-3 bikes trashed or stolen each year and still be in pocket.

Swinging that round to the home station, you potentially save ^700 or more on a car park season ticket, cut several minutes from the searching for a space, and walking from there to the platform, and if you are clever you ditch the cost of that car you leave for 9 hours in the car park.  Some people are clocking up a saving of an hour on their door to desk journey times, or roughly 20 days 'holiday' over the period of a year, and claiming direct and indirect cost savings amounting to over^8000 per year on their commuting costs.

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) at Waterloo and Richmond is offering a deal for leasing a fully serviced folding bike - effectively selling a total joureny package from door to door

The other impact detail was one I looked at during the Thameslink and Waterloo & City closures (roughly 6 months in both cases) and at St Pancras the number of cyclists went up by over1000% in just 2 months, because it deiivered a much needed way of getting to work on time.  This may be one to watch when access and onward travel are disrupted for extended periods by works at Paddington and other stations

A distinct lack of publicity on the main station for the impending hiatus - seesm to be the "Fog in The Channel" syndrome.  The period is albeit a short one, and I happened to be talking to a coach driver at the coach park near Notting Hill who reckoned that by knowing the right route he could walk there from his digs on Edgware Road in 20 minutes - so a swift walk to Lancaster Gate (for the Central Line) seems an option.

Yep I knew it was wrong but had a mental block 3*5 on this.