Henbury Loop Train Service

[whole diary]

[Bmblbzzz]

Hopes to reopen the long-awaited Henbury Loop passenger rail line have been dealt a major blow.

Details of a new line and stations to Henbury have been put forward in the preliminary business case for Phase 2 of MetroWest.

But the line will not connect with the existing Severn Beach line, while a station in Lockleaze has also been deemed nonviable.

Charlotte Leslie called the ^lunatic decision^ not to connect the lines a ^diabolically missed opportunity of a generation".



The loop and Constable Road station have been excluded from the Phase 2 business case
Transport campaigners said the loop had been ^kicked into the long grass^ without consideration for future passengers.

The preliminary business case favours a ^Henbury spur^, where trains will turn back towards Temple Meads instead of continuing on.

The report supports new or reopened passenger stations at Henbury, North Filton and Ashley Down, but omits a station at Constable Road, Lockleaze.

The loop and the Lockleaze station were excluded to fit the Government^s ^43 million budget for the project, said West of England councils.

But campaigner David Redgewell, from the South West Transport Network, said the report was flawed as it had ^not taken into account the huge business developments in Severnside^.

He said the loop could have provided transport to future employees of planned developments in Pilning, Avonmouth, Severn Beach and Hallen.

Freinds of Suburban Bristol Rail added that the omission of a loop connection was "frankly ridiculous" given the proposed development in the area.



Leslie says the decision will have "diabolical" consequences
Leslie, Conservative MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Bristol North West and long-time Henbury Loop campaigner, said 5,000 new homes on Filton Airfield without a comprehensive rail link to jobs would cause gridlock on the roads.

She added: ^In the year of Bristol's Green Capital, this lunatic decision raises the most serious questions over the competence and interests of Bristol's top decision makers and I will not let this rest until common sense and public interest triumph."

Phase 1 of MetroWest, which includes reopening the passenger line to Portishead with a new station in Pill by 2019, is currently under consultation ahead of a planning application.

If Phase 2 is agreed there will be a total of five new or reopened stations by 2021, including Henbury, North Filton and Ashley Down, at a total cost of ^100 million.

^Three years ago this seemed impossible - now, by planning our transport investment across different modes and across the whole area, rather than individually - we are starting to make a real difference,^ said Brian Allinson, chairman of the West of England Joint Transport Board.

He said budget constraints meant councils could go ahead with the business case "or do nothing", before adding that a Henbury Loop connection and a station in Lockleaze should not be ruled out for the future.

The last new rail station to open in the West of England area was Filton Abbeywood in 1996.



Contstable Road station has been excluded due to projected passenger numbers and its close proximity to Ashley Down

http://www.bristol247.com/channel/news-comment/daily/transport/henbury-loop-kicked-into-long-grass

I was never quite convinced of the sense of a loop for Henbury ^ it seemed to leave Severn Beach even more out on a limb than it currently is ^ but I'll be disappointed if we don't get at least one of Constable Road and Ashley Down.

[Red Squirrel]

More on this on the Bristol Post website ( http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/MP-Charlotte-Leslie-condemns-plans-scrap-Henbury/story-26862876-detail/story.html ) and all over Charlotte Leslie's twitter thing ( https://twitter.com/clesliemp )

[TonyK]

A huge shock. Well. a bit of a shock. Actually, not much of a shock at all.

[JayMac]

Charlotte Leslie, MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Bristol North West, is not far short of apoplectic based on her social media musings.

No PPS or junior ministry job for her any time soon.

[Chris from Nailsea]

On the other hand, please give her credit for fighting her corner for her constituents ...



Charlotte Leslie MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) is also the President of Avonmouth National Smelting Company Boxing Club. 

[JayMac]

The bonkers report prepared for the West of England Partnership and MetroWest stakeholders is for Henbury to be served by a passenger service terminating and turning back. That's despite most of the infrastructure being in place for trains to continue to Avonmouth, thence Clifton Down and Bristol TM^‡(resolve) as a loop service. I really can't understand how these  so called consultants came up with such a ludicrous conclusion that this was the best way for Henbury and the surrounding major housing developments to be served. Effectively we'll have two branch line services separated by little more than a mile. Understandable if track had to be relaid, but not when there's a double track line, well engineered as it's used by heavy freight, already there. Avonmouth is a major employment centre for Bristol and failing to link it with passenger rail services to the major housing development on the old Filton airfield is bloody ludicrous.

Once again we see short sighted and ill conceived plans eminating from the West of England Partnership and the local authorities of Bristol and surrounding areas. Bunch of muppets.

Unsurprisingly, Charlotte Leslie MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) is still spitting feathers:

http://bristolpost.co.uk/Transport-leaders-decision-Henbury-Spur-loop/story-26927540-detail/story.html

[Red Squirrel]

I can see why the loop service is desirable, but I've never understood how it would fit into the existing Severn Beach Line service pattern.

Wouldn't a full 30-min loop service would either relagate Severn Beach to a spur shuttle, or imply a 15-minute service between St Andrew's Rd and Temple Meads (and consequent re-doubling of that line)? What have I missed?

[JayMac]

Portion working?

The Severn Beach problem is a little knotty, but I'm sure it could be overcome. To use that as an excuse for only giving Henbury a turnback service is not, I believe, what the muppet manifesto business plan has suggested.

http://travelwest.info/project/metrowest-phase-2-preliminary-business-case

The report's writers knew their audience with the many references suggesting bus is best. Music to the bus lovers ears on Bristol City Council.

[John R]

Severn Beach is indeed a problem. I suspect if the current train service only ran to Avonmouth then the loop would have been the preferred choice.  Being slightly controversial I suspect passenger volumes at SB^▸ (Signal Box) are relatively low (given the zonal fares, I'm not sure the published figures give a good representation), which is why for many years most services turned back at Avonmouth. Given both the current opportunity and growth anticipated on the Henbury loop, it would seem the loop is being held back by the need to maintain the relatively underused extremity of the existing branch line.

A possible radical solution would be to resite Pilning station closer to Severn Beach, maybe just east of the A403, and introduce an hourly (rather than weekly) service.  Would need to ensure that the station was beyond the first signal after the tunnel coming west, else it would constrain capacity through the tunnel, and I guess the railway is in a cutting there, so could be difficult to construct. But would give a much faster journey into Bristol, and compensate for a much reduced or removed service between SB and Avonmouth.

Radical, but railways have to move with the times, and if it meant a Henbury loop service was viable, maybe it would be for the greater good of North Bristol connectivity.



 

[grahame]

Portion working?

Out of fashion, but sounds like an option.  If services from Temple Meads via Clifton Down were 4 cars, would 2 cars to Severn Beach and 2 cars to Temple Meads via Henbury be about right?   Given that Severn Beach is onlly server by some of via Clifton Down serves, would the others extend via Henbury, with some services via Henbury turning back (at Henbury or Avonmounth) - thus giving a complete loop with a less frequent service at the quieter outer extreme, but never the less a useful service.  Note - questions asked by someone who's not an expert.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Note - questions asked by someone who's not an expert.

I'd really welcome their direct input, as a posting member on the Coffee Shop forum - they know a darned sight more than me about the logistical possibilities! 

[eightf48544]

September Modern Railways page 10.

It appears that the MetroWest Phase 2 preliminary business case has concluded that loop operation would not provide value for money.

Phase 1 is apparently te ePortishead line half hourly services on the Severn Beach line and intermediate stations between Bristol and Bath.

Phase 2 is hourly to Henbury (Spur from Abbey Wood) with an intermediate station at North Filton and an half hourly service to Yate.

Please move to a more appropriate thread.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Please move to a more appropriate thread.

Thanks, eightf48544 - I have done exactly that. 

[Red Squirrel]

From an article in today's Bristol Post:

Councillors at a meeting of the West of England Partnership's joint scrutiny commission yesterday accused the experts of lacking vision and producing flawed data based on wrong assumptions.

But they also had to admit that closing the door completely on a "spur" would cause a delay while a new business case was worked up on a loop.

The result could be thousands of new homes at Filton Airfield and the surrounding development land - but not enough public transport infrastructure to help people travel without using their cars. It would mean the regular gridlock would get much worse.

In the end, councillors voted 4 to 3 in favour of "a strong preference for the Henbury Loop".

But they added a rider which said if the partnership's board decides next week in favour of a "spur", then a loop should not be kicked into the long grass and forgotten.

James White, from the West of England, said a "spur" already made provision for "future-proofing" a loop at a later date.

The word they should use is 'tempry' - a good old Bristolian word that means "It's not much cop, but it's the best you're likely to get".

[TonyK]

The report's writers knew their audience with the many references suggesting bus is best. Music to the bus lovers ears on Bristol City Council.

More accurately, music to the ears of the road builders at South Glos and North Somerset parish councils. ITA^▸ (Integrated Transport Authority), anyone?

Severn Beach is indeed a problem. I suspect if the current train service only ran to Avonmouth then the loop would have been the preferred choice.  Being slightly controversial I suspect passenger volumes at SB^▸ (Signal Box) are relatively low (given the zonal fares, I'm not sure the published figures give a good representation), which is why for many years most services turned back at Avonmouth. Given both the current opportunity and growth anticipated on the Henbury loop, it would seem the loop is being held back by the need to maintain the relatively underused extremity of the existing branch line.

The Severn Beach trains - 11 each way each weekday with the first arriving at BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) at 0641 - provide a useful public service, something not often considered these days. I don't know the passenger loadings, but they have definitely taken cars off the roads, and are heavily used from Avonmouth inwards, especially at peak times. Look at the options - ^3.00 return for a 41 minute ride along one of the most picturesque lines in the country, a ride on the one bus each way daily costing double that, timetabled at 63 minutes, and arriving in town at 0830, or driving the 13 miles in, then paying a tenner a day to a licensed bandit in a car park? They are a bit sporadic in interval - woe betide he who misses the 0751 to work, and has to wait until 0956, but they are much appreciated, and are not just a charity case.

Expanding the service would be expensive. A 2 tph service is just attainable with an extra train set, something which should be achieved by MetroWest Rail phase 1. To make it 3 tph to SVB would need either redoubling of nearly 5 miles of track, or a passing loop and signal at least. Less money could be spent to strengthen capacity from Avonmouth by, say, bringing the junction at Clifton Down back to Montpelier, or the Avonmouth junction back to Sea Mills or Shirehampton. Either would add at least one tph to the capacity, and would involve relocation of points and signals rather than additional.

The Henbury loop is unworkable at present. It will be a brilliant idea eventually, when an extra 5000 homes are built next to the line and the Avonmouth Deep Sea Container Terminal is built, providing work for a lot of those people. But it will also provide some 40 goods trains daily pulling slowly up the hill to Filton, so capacity will not be easy to come by, especially given the single tracked junction. Maybe when it has been wired to 25kV AC, as is apparently an aspiration, the locos will be more powerful and the goods traffic faster, but until then, only a third line would solve the problem. ^200 million should be enough to widen cuttings, embankments, bridges and the like, and maybe have a right-turn towards SVB.