Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Bmblbzzz]

Przyjemność będzie, jak przyjadą pociągy...

[chuffed]

And I want to be in Pole position when the first tickets go on sale ....

[TonyK]

Zbyt dobrze! (To both previous comments)

[Red Squirrel]

If I were a Pole, I think that by the time the line reopens I would have repositioned myself to the Omerta pub in Krakow, to imbibe kilka piw and muse on the silliness of the English.

[grahame]

From Bristol Live (Bristol Post) published yesterday afternoon.   

Almost a decade after plans to reopen the Portishead railway line were taken up by Bristol and North Somerset councils, questions are being raised about whether the scheme is still on track.

It comes after the project missed out on millions in funding from Westminster in May leaving many wondering whether the Bristol to Portishead line would ever be reopened.

Officially called MetroWest phase one, the Portishead line project needs to secure another £47million before work to reopen it can begin.

And despite failing to secure the cash needed earlier this year, North Somerset is not giving up and has already approached the Department of Transport again for more money.

This time the authority has worked with Gloucestershire County Council and Wiltshire Council to submit an ‘expression of interest’ to the government’s Transforming Cities Fund. It is now waiting to hear the outcome of this bid.

North Somerset’s strategic planning and economic development scrutiny panel is due to meet on July 18 to receive and update on the project - which has seemingly failed to make any progress over the past 10 years.

One of the big problems is the route needs major investment to re-lay sections of track which have been ripped up.

A viable shared timetable will also need to be created with the freight companies which use part of the line. And of course there is the ever increasing cost of the project - which has so far only been partly funded.

In spring last year it was revealed the costs for the first phase of the project had spiraled from £58million to between £145 and £175million.

At that time officers went back to the drawing board in order to find a way to deliver the project at a lower, more affordable price. A decision was made to only offer one service an hour between Bristol and Portishead to bring costs down to £116million.

[etc]

Anything new in there?

[SandTEngineer]

No.  But reports elsewhere suggest there hasn't been a single freight train that has used the line since it was 'resignalled' back in April 2018.  There needs to be some serious discussion about freight access paths that aren't likely to be used ever again.

[Red Squirrel]

... there hasn't been a single freight train that has used the line since it was 'resignalled' back in April 2018. 

Blimey. How come?

[SandTEngineer]

Don't think that report elsewhere is accurate to date (it was a historic post on another forum) as RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) shows one train ran yesterday (16/07/2018) after nothing for at least the week before.

[PhilWakely]

Don't think that report elsewhere is accurate to date (it was a historic post on another forum) as RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) shows one train ran yesterday (16/07/2018) after nothing for at least the week before.

and one today (17/07/18)?
5Q32 09:00 Portbury to Manchester International Depot

[SandTEngineer]

Yes, not exactly the busy freight branch it used to be.  I think the coal traffic to Aberthaw power station hasn't run for a while, so only automotive traffic at present which is obviously linked to ship arrivals at Portbury dock.  Don't see why that should prevent a half hourly Portishead service (in the peaks at least) without the need for the suggested significant infrastructure works (i.e. another passing loop)......

[Adelante_CCT]

The line is being used for the deliveries from CAF every few weeks at the moment as mentioned here

[Western Pathfinder]

This may be of interest.
https://metrowestphase1.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/stage-2-consultation-report-final.pdf.

[SandTEngineer]

Thanks for posting that WP.  I must admit I was a little bit concerned when I opened the document and Page 2 stated BLANK.....

[chuffed]

An article has popped up in the latest edition of the Portishead and Portbury paper suggesting that the way forwards could be STRAIL. It is a system of new and recycled thick rubber panels laid within and beside existing rail tracks and has been used in 30,000 locations in 5 continents to allow road traffic to drive over railways. It does not stop the tracks being used by trains.
I wonder if the Dft and NR^» (Network Rail - home page) have considered this...the author claims it will reduce the cost to about 40 million, down  from the 175 million that has been bandied about elsewhere.

[Lee]

Does the author explain exactly how this impressive reduction in funding required will be achieved, or give examples of where the system has been deployed successfully elsewhere on a line with an hourly plus peak enhancement passenger frequency, and Portbury-level freight operations?