Metrowest Status

[whole diary]

[grahame]

The key thing here is that the people quoted are not objecting to the station - they just want an RPS.

Totally agreed.  They're asking for joined up thinking!

[Bmblbzzz]

They're unlikely to get far with that, as Mayor Rees is opposed to them.

[Red Squirrel]

They're unlikely to get far with that, as Mayor Rees is opposed to them.

Well... the next Mayoral election is in 2020. At least one major party is promising to abolish the role if they win. Meanwhile, Ashley Down Station is part of MetroWest 2, which may open in 2021 but us old hands might want to sprinkle condiments on that date. Bottom line: Rees will most likely have moved on to pastures new by the time the station reaches GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) 4/5.

[Bmblbzzz]

"Vote for me as mayor and I'll abolish the mayorship." It could be a winning slogan!

[stuving]

"Vote for me as mayor and I'll abolish the mayorship." It could be a winning slogan!

It worked in May, didn't it?

[TonyK]

I used to go in Shire JC. I managed to escape.

#MeToo.

Oh, and I'd have to disagree about The George in Shire, unless it's improved immeasurably in recent months. Last time I was in there you could breaststroke in the Gents. That's if you'd managed to unstick your feet from the carpet in front of the bar.

Casting my mind back, and having private facilities across the road, I think I only visited the Gents in the George once, and I kept to the shallow end.

[johnneyw]

There's a short but somewhat ambiguous article in Bristol Live about some recent movement as regards a new station at Ashley Down with 3.5m approved by WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) to develop a full business case for "the project" last week.
The article is unclear if this refers to the station or the wider Metrowest project and begins with the misleading opening sentence "work is already underway".
Here's the link if you want to try and make sense of it:

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/more-details-revealed-new-ashley-2997303?__twitter_impression=true&int_source=taboola&int_medium=display&int_campaign=organic

[froome]

There's a short but somewhat ambiguous article in Bristol Live about some recent movement as regards a new station at Ashley Down with 3.5m approved by WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) to develop a full business case for "the project" last week.
The article is unclear if this refers to the station or the wider Metrowest project and begins with the misleading opening sentence "work is already underway".
Here's the link if you want to try and make sense of it:

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/more-details-revealed-new-ashley-2997303?__twitter_impression=true&int_source=taboola&int_medium=display&int_campaign=organic

Yes, some slightly confusing statements here. The article particularly singles out the need for improved access for pedestrians from Station Road and Lane, and later refers to the need to reduce conflicts between users of Concorde Way and the proposed station. Concorde Way is the pedestrian and cycle access running past the old station, and runs alongside (or possibly along) the old station platform. Access between the two could hardly be simpler unless the proposed station is not on the site of the old station, which would be odd. There is an issue about potential conflict of users, but I would have thought that ought to be resolvable.

[SandTEngineer]

Work on Ashley Down station has certainly been underway for some time.  I have seen a copy of the GRIP3 Signalling Plan for it, dated mid-2018

[Red Squirrel]

There's a short but somewhat ambiguous article in Bristol Live about some recent movement as regards a new station at Ashley Down with 3.5m approved by WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) to develop a full business case for "the project" last week.
The article is unclear if this refers to the station or the wider Metrowest project and begins with the misleading opening sentence "work is already underway".
Here's the link if you want to try and make sense of it:

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/more-details-revealed-new-ashley-2997303?__twitter_impression=true&int_source=taboola&int_medium=display&int_campaign=organic

Yes, some slightly confusing statements here. The article particularly singles out the need for improved access for pedestrians from Station Road and Lane, and later refers to the need to reduce conflicts between users of Concorde Way and the proposed station. Concorde Way is the pedestrian and cycle access running past the old station, and runs alongside (or possibly along) the old station platform. Access between the two could hardly be simpler unless the proposed station is not on the site of the old station, which would be odd. There is an issue about potential conflict of users, but I would have thought that ought to be resolvable.

The article johnneyw refers to is dated 20 Jun 2019.

Concorde Way runs behind the old station, not along the platform; it even deviates to go around the site of the station buildings. It was created by upgrading an existing footpath which, I suspect, was originally put in to serve the old station. There's already a pretty good fence in place between the platform and the path, so there really shouldn't be any major problem as far as I can see.

[johnneyw]

Ah yes, it's not exactly "hot off the press" stuff (mental note to myself to check article date more often) and without doubt, as SandT rightly points out, quality work has been underway for some time. I'm still a bit unsure though what this 3.5 million quid covers.

[TonyK]

One would think that £3.5 million would suffice for a station with platforms on two tracks, passive provision for two more in the future, signalling as mentioned by S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph), and a lick of paint in the underpass. I suspect, though, that the figure relates to producing a business case for the whole MetroWest Rail part 2, and will only be a small part of said business case.

Nice illustrative picture of a non-local train somewhere north.

[Red Squirrel]

The extension of MetroWest rail services to Gloucester and Westbury is one step closer

More frequent trains to Gloucester, Yate and Westbury are a step closer as a change of scope to the MetroWest rail project was agreed at the West of England Combined Authority committee meeting on Friday 19 June.

Phase one, of the MetroWest project which is currently under way, will see the reopening of the Portishead line to passenger trains and improved services on the Severn Beach and Bath to Bristol lines. Phase two would reopen the Henbury Line to an hourly spur service, as well as providing increased, half-hourly trains to Yate.

Expanding MetroWest 30 miles beyond Yate to Gloucester in the north, and 15 miles from Bath to Westbury in the east is now within the scope of the MetroWest project after being welcomed by the West of England Combined Authority Committee.

The proposal to extend the service to Gloucester in place of the Yate turnback has been developed with the train operators and Network Rail. Gloucester is considered a better terminating point for the services because less significant infrastructure is likely to be required whilst extending the communities within reach of the MetroWest services.

The Westbury extension is expected to provide a better mix of local and regional train services, addressing overcrowding issues and making better use of trains and train crews.

Further work is now required for both extensions to confirm the cost and timescales. Once these have been confirmed the proposals to extend the lines would then formally become part of the MetroWest project.

West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles said: “The new MetroWest rail network is going to get our region and its economy moving. It will help create jobs, connect our communities and create more than 1million new journeys on our railway network each year. It will also help us cut carbon emissions, ease congestion and improve our region’s air quality so I’m very pleased that by extending services to Gloucester and Westbury we will give even more residents see those benefits that I know they have been calling for.”

Mike Gallop, Western route director for Network Rail, said: “This is a very welcome step towards delivering enhanced rail services for passengers in and around Bristol. Our work with West of England Combined Authority and local authorities to deliver MetroWest will help to transform the city’s suburban rail network. It will bring new communities together by offering a choice of rail, rather than road, and it will help to support growth through the regeneration of the former Filton Aerodrome site. It’s good news for passengers and for the economy too.”

Once completed, MetroWest will connect an additional 80,000 residents directly to the national rail network and includes:

• Half hourly services on the Severn Beach line calling at a new station at Portway
• Half hourly services from Bristol Temple Meads to Bath and Westbury
• Hourly services between Portishead and Bristol Temple Meads with new stations at Pill and Portishead.
• Hourly services from Bristol Temple Meads to Henbury, calling at new stations at Ashley Down, Henbury and North Filton as well as all existing stations in between
• Half hourly services between Bristol Temple Meads, Yate and Gloucester.

https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Map-metrowest.jpg mirrored at:

Source: WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about)

Can this be done without reopening Platform 4 at Westbury?

Edit - mirrored image to give it a permanent URL

[grahame]

Can this be done without reopening Platform 4 at Westbury?

It can probably be done if the train extends beyond Westbury to Frome as that makes better use of the platforms at Westbury, but I would not  like to be certain after the fiasco at Bristol Parkway trying to get local trains in and out.

Terminate and lay over in the platform at a three platform Westbury?  - I have my doubts.   But then ... 3 local trains an hour into Westbury from the top right corner - two from Bristol and one from Swindon, and three local trains out - one all stations via Salisbury, one all stations to or via Yeovil Pen Mill, and one to Frome with a Radstock aspiration and you've no longer got anything platform blocking.

[grahame]

Hourly services between Portishead and Bristol Temple Meads with new stations at Pill and Portishead

Interesting map, showing Portishead trains through Bedminster, Parson Street, Nailsea and Backwell on their way to Pill and Portishead, and all trains to the South West passing through Weston Milton and Weston-super-mare.  I would "give" them the latter if the map showed purely regional trains, but it doesn't - it included long distance expresses with arrowed off routes to London from both Bath Spa and Bristol Parkway.