Portway Park and Ride Station

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Someone had to do it - race between bus and train journeys to the centre of Bristol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in0zrOCNg5o

The give-away map at the start shows two different routes into different parts of the city - which rather suggests to me that the two services complement rather than compete with each other.  And although it's the symbolic centre, I don't think that many have that bridge as their final destination.

[Red Squirrel]

Indeed:

Portway Park & Ride: Bus or Train?

15 Aug 23 | Tim Weekes | Buses, Services, Stations



Portway Park & Ride station is finally open. But after all the excitement of the opening ceremony, one question keeps cropping up: why do we need a train station when there is already a frequent bus service into Bristol? Which is best – bus or train?

Race to Castle Bridge

YouTuber JenOnTheMove recently conducted a race from Portway Park & Ride Station to Castle Bridge, the serpentine footbridge between Castle Park and the Left Handed Giant Brewpub. One team took the No.9 Park and Ride bus to The Horsefair, while the other took the train to Temple Meads. As a piece of YouTube jeopardy this was a bit of fun, rather in the style of the races BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)’s ‘Top Gear’ used to confect.

‘Team bus’ won the race. We don’t know by what margin, but they were probably helped by the fact that they only had to walk about 600m from the bus stop while the walk from the station is over 1km.

Different routes

But what does this prove? Not much, in truth. The bus and train services cover quite different areas of Bristol. If you wanted to get to the central area, the bus would probably be your best option. If you wanted to get to Clifton, Redland, Gloucester Road, Easton or Lawrence Hill, or indeed Avonmouth or Severn Beach, the train would make more sense. And if you were travelling onwards by rail from Temple Meads, or taking a bicycle with you, you would almost certainly want to catch the train at Portway Park & Ride.

We campaign for a transport system where trains, buses, bikes, scooters and walking routes all work together to give people an easy alternative to the car. None of these is ‘better’ than the others; each has their place.

A race is good fun, but most of us will just be glad that we now have more options.

Source: Bristol Rail Campaign (FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site))

[TonyK]

Nicely put!

[johnneyw]

I was taking the Beach Line to Sea Mills today so I thought I'd include a quick look at Portway P&R^▸ (Park and Ride) to see how it's doing.  Three or four people getting on and off at my arrival and about the same on the return train a few minutes later (about 13.18).
There were a handful of cars in the new parking area built nearer the platform indicating that they were for people using the station.  That's infinite % more though than the number parked there from when I took a look shortly after it opened.
Some GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) people in hi-viz there too but I don't know what for.