Bristol connections: Metro, Bus Rapid Transit, PTE, ITA and local councils - discussion

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

Knowing how much FT, N! likes to hear about this kind of thing:

MetroBus route could bring new bridge for Bristol

A NEW transport bridge is to be built in Bristol city centre as a result of changes to the proposed MetroBus route.

The new bridge will run alongside the existing bridge which takes Commercial Road over the Bathurst Basin at the eastern end of Cumberland Road, opposite the Louisiana pub.

See full article in Bristol Post

[TonyK]

Oh goody - a bridge! My views are by now well known.

[Red Squirrel]

As ever, actual DETAIL seems rather elusive:

Detailed timetable announced for future of Bristol's rail network

A DETAILED timetable for the future of Bristol's rail network has been unveiled by the people behind the ^120 million scheme.

The West of England Joint Transport Executive, a partnership of the four councils in the Bristol area, has been working on the scheme which will improve train services in the city and surrounding area.

The organisation has published a factsheet [Can we see it please? - Ed] which gives detailed information on when and how train services in the Bristol area will be improved over the next decade.



Source: Bristol Post

[Lee]

More detail on the groovily-rebranded MetroWest (get with it Bristol Post, as you yourselves point out in the main article, it aint a Bristol metro no more) including factsheets can be found here.

It reminds me again of my post yesterday about Cullompton being unlikely to be funded until 2023 at the earliest:

It's like anything though, isn't it - if the oft-used phrase "third party funding" were magicked up to put towards Cullompton station, it would be a heck of a lot shorter than that.

I once met a leading Network Rail figure at a meeting in Bristol, and remarked that I had been studying their route plans. His response - "You must be the only person who does then" (his words I hasten to add - I know a number of CoffeeShop members do).

One of the most interesting aspects of doing so is noticing how a project can go from absolutely nowhere to the top of the list seemingly overnight, if the money suddenly appears from behind the sofa - Bristol City Council's decision to fund the Clifton Down turnback is an example that particularly sticks in my mind.

I remember back in 2008, FGW^▸ (First Great Western), backed by the Severnside Community Rail Partnership, were actively promoting the Yate turnback, with a projected completion date of 2010.

Just a 13-year delay then?

And who can forget the reopening of Corsham station, which was funded and had a projected completion date of Summer 2003? - http://www.persona.uk.com/A47postwick/deposit-docs/DD66.pdf (page 153)

Just a 20-year delay then?

As an aside, if you look back one page earlier in the report, you will see that the date for the partial re-opening of the Portishead line for freight and new line into the port is listed as December 2001, which was indeed the case.

Just a 17-year delay between freight and passenger services then?

Priorities, priorities.

The fact of the matter is that the completion (or not) date of all of the projects listed, and of all similar projects is entirely dependent on the whims at any particular time of those who have the ability to fund them. As a result, I have grown to find the constant publishing, revising, and republishing of timelines both meaningless and annoying.

Finally, it should be noted that, subject to standard timetable change procedures, the current franchise specification allows FGW to insert extra calls at Bedminster and Parson Street in Taunton-Cardiff services as they see fit, and something approaching a half-hourly service could be introduced at both stations a lot sooner than 2018, at far less cost than any of the other MetroWest/Bristol Metro/whatever its called this week schemes listed.

[Red Squirrel]

As an aside, if you look back one page earlier in the report, you will see that the date for the partial re-opening of the Portishead line for freight and new line into the port is listed as December 2001, which was indeed the case.

I love the 'Broadband option' - I may e-mail the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) to tell them I used it... very hi-res!

[JayMac]

A RealMedia file type (.ram)? I haven't had anything that plays that for yonks, broadband or no broadband. I had to reinstall RealPlayer.

And the quality? In full screen it looks like a film made by Lego^.  Had to watch it on original 100%. About 3"x2".

Video clips on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) have come a long way in 12 years.

[Red Squirrel]

A RealMedia file type (.ram)? I haven't had anything that plays that for yonks, broadband or no broadband. I had to reinstall RealPlayer.

And the quality? In full screen it looks like a film made by Lego^.  Had to watch it on original 100%. About 3"x2".

Video clips on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) have come a long way in 12 years.

I use VLC player - open source is best - but I can't get it to play more than the first 3 mins. Maybe I should invest in one of these new-fangled 56K modems?

In other observations:

1. Would that be a LEVEL CROSSING in the docks area? Tsk.
2. Why on earth did they fit a set of points where the new line diverges from the old?

[anthony215]

The latest issue of Modern Railways has a good Great Western edition which includes article on the Bristol Metro and the cross severn services which will interest many of you

[TonyK]

In other observations:

1. Would that be a LEVEL CROSSING in the docks area? Tsk.

It is a private siding. In any case, I think it would have got under the door before it closed on new level crossings.

2. Why on earth did they fit a set of points where the new line diverges from the old?

This could be seen as an optimistic statement that the passenger railway would not be far behind the goods traffic. Or it may have been intended to persuade the people of Pill, soon to have heavy trains trundling past the front door, that any disturbance would be worth it soon. Maybe 17 years. The switches were removed at some point, and lie in the undergrowth to the right of this picture:



Should construction commence, they can be refitted if the existing track is strong enough for deliveries / extractions by rail. The favourite proposal suggests that they would then disappear again, with the goods and passengers lines running side by side, but separate from each other.

In other Bristol local transport news, Transport for Greater Bristol have written to DafT with a FOI^▸ (Freedom of Information) request for the long-overdue result of the Planning Inquiry, according to Bristol Post. They are also calling for the PI to be reopened to examine the changes to the route, and to consider TfGB's own recommendation for Bust Rabid Transit to run along Hotwells Road - entirely reasonable in my book. If agreed, it will hold up construction for even more months.

MetroBus scheme to be delayed if pressure group's request is granted


By The Bristol Post




Tuesday, July 23, 2013

By Ian Onions

A PRESSURE group has called for a public inquiry to be reopened over the MetroBus which is planned to run from the Long Ashton park-and-ride site to Temple Meads.

If the inquiry is reopened, the introduction of the ^49 million scheme will be delayed for several months.

Mayor George Ferguson, with the support of city councillors, has decided that the route should be changed so that it no longer runs in front of the M shed museum and over Prince Street Bridge.

Instead, it will run along Cumberland Road, over Redcliffe Hill and rejoin the original route in Redcliffe Way.
Jazz & Blues with Lizzie Deane

A public inquiry was held last year into the scheme ^ but nearly 12 months later, the outcome has not been published.

Transport for Greater Bristol's Ian Crawford said that the pressure group has now written to ministers asking for the result of the public inquiry to be announced.

He said: "We have now made a Freedom of Information request to obtain the inspector's report which was available to the secretaries of state in January ^ five months after the public inquiry.

"In view of the changed route which was not investigated at the inquiry, we have asked whether it (the inquiry) will be reopened to look at what has been put forward almost a year after the inquiry closed."

TfGB believes that the best route for the MetroBus would be along Hotwell Road because there is higher passenger demand than on Cumberland Road.

But Mr Ferguson dismissed the Hotwell Road option at a cabinet meeting last month.

This followed transport officials telling Mr Ferguson in a report that the business case did not stack up for this alternative route.

Mr Crawford said the MetroBus being guided along a specially-built concrete trough on some sections was "unnecessary expensive engineering".

He said he would prefer to see the money spent on improving bus frequency and reducing fares through the introduction of a "smart ticket".

All the councils in the former Avon area will have to agree to the amended route before it can be approved by the Department for Transport ^ but this is likely to be a formality.

South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and Bath and North East Somerset councils are keen to press ahead with the MetroBus to help ease traffic congestion in the Bristol area. The Department for Transport said it was not sure whether the changed route would need an amendment to the legal powers required for the scheme. But the department has now been told this amendment is not needed.

A spokesman for the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) said there are two elements which are necessary before work can start ^ funding and an order under the Transport and Works Act.

The spokesman said: "On funding, the department is waiting for formal confirmation that the changes to the scheme proposed following the mayor of Bristol's review of the proposed route have been approved by the West of England councils. These would then need to be approved by ministers.

"On the TWA, we have been progressing the necessary order as far as possible considering the report of the public enquiry. The final TWA decision will also need ministerial approval.

"We will publish the report with the letter that will outline the decision on the TWA."

The Ashton Vale route is just one in the MetroBus network, which will cost a total of ^196 million.

The other routes run from the northern fringe of the city to Hengrove and from the Long Ashton park-and-ride site to Hengrove (South Bristol Link).

The DfT will be paying most of the cost, ^113 million, with councils in the former Avon area chipping in the rest.

Bristol's share will be ^42 million, phased over several years.

The Ashton Vale route would be the first to be built, with construction work starting next year and transport running by 2016.

[Red Squirrel]

Jazz & Blues with Lizzie Deane

Quoi?

Should construction commence, they can be refitted if the existing track is strong enough for deliveries / extractions by rail. The favourite proposal suggests that they would then disappear again, with the goods and passengers lines running side by side, but separate from each other.

Coo. How far? Didn't think there was room for double track all the way...

[TonyK]

Jazz & Blues with Lizzie Deane

Quoi?

Should construction commence, they can be refitted if the existing track is strong enough for deliveries / extractions by rail. The favourite proposal suggests that they would then disappear again, with the goods and passengers lines running side by side, but separate from each other.

Coo. How far? Didn't think there was room for double track all the way...

Probably no further than Pill Viaduct initially. But at least that would mean that a train stopping there to head for Portishead would not stop a goods train struggling up the hill from Portbury. Looking at the photos in the GRIP3 report, there probably is room over the viaduct for twin track, but I can't see it happening.

[Red Squirrel]

Just had a look at 13/03108/F, the plans for the South Bristol Link Road, on the Bristol City Council website.

The photomontages and artist's impressions rather bring home the point that FT,N! has made several times: This looks like a road with buses on, not a rapid transit route.

[chuffed]

According to Mike Vincents excellent book The Portishead Branch, there was a passing loop, complete with signal box in the Oakwood cutting where the line does a passable imitation of the horseshoe bend. There was also double track at Clifton Down station where the undergrowth is particularly lush now from 30 years of equine eflluvia. However I always thought one of the Gorge tunnels  was particularly restricted in height and/ or width, which would seem to preclude double track here. There is a North Somerset newsletter, a link to which appears on the Portishead raiway group website, which outlines the current situation and future timescales. One thing that had I not realised was, that although the straightforward Portishead Bristol shuttle service had reached GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) 3 by Autumn 2010, everything has now been wound back to GRIP 1 and 2, now that Portishead is incorporated  in the much vaunted Metrowest proposals. That would explain the slippage from April 2017 to December 2019 for the service to begin.

[Red Squirrel]

According to Mike Vincents excellent book The Portishead Branch, there was a passing loop, complete with signal box in the Oakwood cutting where the line does a passable imitation of the horseshoe bend. There was also double track at Clifton Down station where the undergrowth is particularly lush now from 30 years of equine eflluvia. However I always thought one of the Gorge tunnels  was particularly restricted in height and/ or width, which would seem to preclude double track here. There is a North Somerset newsletter, a link to which appears on the Portishead raiway group website, which outlines the current situation and future timescales. One thing that had I not realised was, that although the straightforward Portishead Bristol shuttle service had reached GRIP^▸ (Guide to Railway Investment Projects) 3 by Autumn 2010, everything has now been wound back to GRIP 1 and 2, now that Portishead is incorporated  in the much vaunted Metrowest proposals. That would explain the slippage from April 2017 to December 2019 for the service to begin.

That'll be Clifton Bridge station, of course.

I seem to remember at least one of the tunnels is largely unlined, which makes it hard to assess by eye what the loading guage is like, but I'd say they were very much single-track.

I too was a bit surprised to see on the N Som website that we were back to GRIP 1. They claim that none of the previous work up to GRIP 3 will be wasted, and I get the impression that actually it's largely a matter of letting the rest of the MetroWest scheme catch up. But don't the wheels grind slowly!

[chuffed]

Thank you RS for correcting my senior moment !

I can't be the first passenger ..well, not since 1964...to make the error of confusing Clifton Bridge with Clifton Down !
Not quite so bad as the poor lady in the song Oh Mr Porter! ( predates even Will Hay in the film of the same name!) who wanted to go to Birmingham and ended up at Crewe ! Obviously they didn't have XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) stopping at Stoke or Stafford in them days!)