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Author Topic: Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion  (Read 384435 times)
alan_s
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« Reply #510 on: October 23, 2017, 22:23:48 »

Anybody got the date when Portishead re-opening was first mooted? It seems like decades ago to me.

When I first moved to Portishead back in 1978 there was talk of reopening the line as part of the "Avon Metro" scheme!
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trainer
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« Reply #511 on: October 23, 2017, 22:33:44 »

It beggars belief that this project is still at an effectively non-planning stage. I actually felt angry reading the notice of a new consultation. Someone somewhere is swallowing large sums of public money just to tell us that it will cost HUGE sums of public money to achieve an essential, socially, economically and environmentally desirable piece of infrastructure.

Personally I never use strong language, but my visceral response to this is in full sympathy with the implied imprecation of the untranslated acronym at the end of BNM's post.
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #512 on: October 23, 2017, 23:28:42 »

... the untranslated acronym at the end of BNM's post.

The original reference to 'JFDI (just flipping do it (polite version))' was in Red Squirrel's earlier post - and I have now added details to the Coffee Shop forum's list of abbreviations and acronymsWink

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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
chuffed
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« Reply #513 on: October 24, 2017, 06:52:35 »

The same group of people seem to have come up with the old costings (£53 million) and the new (£158 million), How can anyone have the slightest shred of confidence in either figure when one seems so ridiculously low  and the other so ridiculously high when compared to each other ? I have always been a strong advocate for the railway and am generally an optimistic sort of soul, but even I, now have doubts whether anything will run in my lifetime.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #514 on: October 24, 2017, 09:28:19 »

It's hard to see GRIP (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) as anything other than a tactic policy for transferring engineering funds to consultants and so-called planners.
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #515 on: October 24, 2017, 10:27:56 »

Thats a bit unfair to consultants.  During my career I have specified (as the client) and undertaken (as a consultant) many GRIP (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) 1 to 5 projects.  My most recent involvement was as the consultant for GRIP 3 part of a resignalling project, and I can assure you that when the client doesn't have a clue exactly what output it wants from that project, that there is bound to be a wide discrepency in cost estimates and project delivery timeframes that the consultant comes up with.  Now then, which client are we talking about here..... Roll Eyes Tongue
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grahame
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« Reply #516 on: October 24, 2017, 10:52:26 »

During my career I have specified (as the client) and undertaken (as a consultant) many GRIP (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) 1 to 5 projects. 

If I was involved in a big project, I might stage it:

1. Work out what you want to achieve

2. See if it's going to be possible

3. See if there are several ways, and if there are decide which is best

4. Work out how you're going to do it in general tems

5. Work out all the fine detail of what you're doing

6. Do it! Test it! Get it working!

7. Hand it on to the people who'll be looking after it in the long term

8. Help sort out any final issues

How does that compare to GRIP?
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #517 on: October 24, 2017, 11:06:59 »

I think the GRIP (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) process as a whole is staged more or less correctly.  What is frustrating is the constant yo-yo'ing between Graham's stages 3-5 above, and the fact that every month that passes sees costs added that seem very difficult to explain.
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To view my GWML (Great Western Main Line) Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/
Red Squirrel
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« Reply #518 on: October 24, 2017, 11:15:40 »

For completeness, here is the official definition of the GRIP (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) process (according to Squirrel Consulting):

1. Output definition - What are we trying to achieve?
2. Feasibility - Can it be done?
3. Option selection - What’s the best way of doing it? This would be the point where we chose the best route.
4. Single option development - Outline design
5. Detailed design - Um… detailed design
6. Construction test and commission - Well I think we’ve got the hang of this now
7. Scheme hand back - Phew, nearly done
8. Project close out - Who left this shovel here?
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Things take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster than you thought they could.
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« Reply #519 on: October 24, 2017, 15:24:23 »

Never in the history of rail reopenings, has so much hot air, reams of paper, and millions of pounds been wasted.by so many. for so few and for so little result.
The CONsultants must be laughing all the way to the bank and back again.
One of the posts of the year on this forum!

Have made this response official whilst responding to the consultation. I was tempted to ask how many £'s per letter (that's letters in a word rather than the cursive missive) the consultants would be receiving !
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #520 on: October 24, 2017, 16:24:05 »

What is frustrating is ... the fact that every month that passes sees costs added that seem very difficult to explain.

Hmm. Roll Eyes  I rather thought Red Squirrel had already explained that, very succinctly:

I've just realised that the revised costings for Portishead come out at somewhere between £15 million/Mi and £17.5 million/Mi.  However I think this is a special case - most of this is apparently required to straighten the Avon Gorge and re-locate the Clifton Suspension Bridge a few metres to the left of its current site.

 Wink Cheesy Grin
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William Huskisson MP (Member of Parliament) was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830.  Many more have died in the same way since then.  Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.

"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner."  Discuss.
johnneyw
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« Reply #521 on: November 22, 2017, 11:37:03 »

Okay, there have been many false starts and delays but could this new funding be progress?

http://www.northsomersettimes.co.uk/news/north-somerset-council-promises-6million-funding-for-portishead-railway-project-1-5289245
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #522 on: November 22, 2017, 11:42:08 »

I love the Councillor's final sentence in that article.   Cheesy
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johnneyw
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From station to station, back to Bristol city....


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« Reply #523 on: November 22, 2017, 11:57:50 »

I love the Councillor's final sentence in that article.   Cheesy


Just right for a modern reworking of "The Ghost Train"? 😀
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TonyK
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« Reply #524 on: November 22, 2017, 16:41:53 »

I love the Councillor's final sentence in that article.   Cheesy

Me too!

Quote
Cllr Reyna Knight said: “It seems to have taken an awful long time to reach where we are now.

“I hope to live long enough to see Portishead railway (open) and if I don’t I will come back to haunt it.”
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