Portishead Line reopening for passengers - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

There is an infrastructure announcement due next week sometime, so it may well be in that.

[chuffed]

Finally finally finally...the green light has been given along with a whole raft of other rail and road improvements. The government has put in a further £27 million. Just the final business case approval and it will be spades in the ground....

[Red Squirrel]

The government is also announcing key rail projects across the country, including reinstating a passenger rail line between Bristol city centre and Portishead, which last ran over 60 years ago, delivering 3 brand new train stations, bringing thousands more people closer to a railway...

Source: gov.uk press release

Three stations... so Portishead, Pill and, er..?

[grahame]

The government is also announcing key rail projects across the country, including reinstating a passenger rail line between Bristol city centre and Portishead, which last ran over 60 years ago, delivering 3 brand new train stations, bringing thousands more people closer to a railway...

Source: gov.uk press release

Three stations... so Portishead, Pill and, er..?

Is there any commitment to employ enough trained staff to run a train service reliable enough for people to use once the line and stations are provided?

[chuffed]

I think the three stations are Wellington, Cullompton and Haxby. I would have thought a W&C Parkway might have made more sense, but some tanked up lager louts might have other ideas!

[John D]

The government is also announcing key rail projects across the country, including reinstating a passenger rail line between Bristol city centre and Portishead, which last ran over 60 years ago, delivering 3 brand new train stations, bringing thousands more people closer to a railway...

Source: gov.uk press release

Three stations... so Portishead, Pill and, er..?

Not really clear is it, could even read the loosely worded 3 stations as the new Wellington, Cullompton and Haxby.

Originally there were following on the line (not all open at same time) Bedminster and Parson Street (rebuilt in 1930s with two islands about 220m long, as part of quadrupling through to branch junction), then on actual branch had Ashton Gate, Clifton Bridge, Nightingale Valley Halt, Ham Green Halt, Pill, Portbury Shipyard, Portbury and Portishead.

Portbury (adjacent to M25 junction 19) would probably make a good Park and Ride location (if they could build a multi storey car park for some of the car import terminals thus freeing up land), although there is risk might end up stealing rail journeys from further south with people driving to junction 19 instead

[IndustryInsider]

I think the three stations are Wellington, Cullompton and Haxby near Liverpool. I would have thought a W&C Parkway might have made more sense, but some tanked up lager louts might have other ideas!

That's how I read it.

Is there any commitment to employ enough trained staff to run a train service reliable enough for people to use once the line and stations are provided?

Perhaps it should launch as a weekday only service to start with!?

Anyway, positive news, though there have been so many false dawns with this project before I can't help but think it will still have some hoops to jump through!

[Red Squirrel]

From the context, I don’t think it’s too big a stretch to imagine that the three stations referred to are on the Portishead Line. Portishead and Pill are baked in, but the plans have passive provision for Ashton Gate - close to the Stadium. There is no committed funding for this, but it has been mentioned by the WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) mayor recently.

[Red Squirrel]

I think the three stations are Wellington, Cullompton and Haxby near Liverpool. I would have thought a W&C Parkway might have made more sense, but some tanked up lager louts might have other ideas!

That's how I read it.

Is there any commitment to employ enough trained staff to run a train service reliable enough for people to use once the line and stations are provided?

Perhaps it should launch as a weekday only service to start with!?

Anyway, positive news, though there have been so many false dawns with this project before I can't help but think it will still have some hoops to jump through!

By 2028 the 175’s will, one hopes, be in service. This will presumably help. Is it naive to hope that in two and a half years there might be some improvement to the current crewing problems?

[Mark A]

The satellite view of the route: the out-of-use railway passing acres and acres of new vehicles of one kind or another parked up nose to tail... an eloquent commentary on the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s transport priorities.

Does anyone know if the vehicle storage there is largely short-stay or is it the case that cars are imported and then suffer the fate of being, well, marooned is the wrong word as it suggests isolation, and there's thousands of them?

Mark

[TonyK]

The satellite view of the route: the out-of-use railway passing acres and acres of new vehicles of one kind or another parked up nose to tail... an eloquent commentary on the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s transport priorities.

Does anyone know if the vehicle storage there is largely short-stay or is it the case that cars are imported and then suffer the fate of being, well, marooned is the wrong word as it suggests isolation, and there's thousands of them?

Mark

Both scenarios happen. Market forces being what they are, a shipload of cars and vans heading here from Asia might arrive to a recession and sit around waiting for someone to want them. That isn't apparently the case right now. The best figures I can find suggest about 750,000 cars annually pass through the dock, but that includes cars for export as well as arriving. I can't find a number, but car imports were £44 bn to April 2025 and exports £31 bn. Whether that translates to the same proportion in numbers at RPD, I couldn't say. We import mass-produced cheaper cars as a general and very rough rule, but export the higher end.

[johnneyw]

Just the final business case approval and it will be spades in the ground....

Bearing in mind the bumpy road that the project has frequently stumbled over for too many years, I'm wondering what further potholes the business case could reveal before the sound of spades in ground can be heard......and just how long does it take to approve?

[infoman]

Don't think there is much chance of a new station at Ashton Gate,

as yet,and unconfirmed,the new Mayor is a dark side fan.

[TonyK]

I enjoyed this video on YouTube, of a drone flight between Portishead and Pill.

https://youtu.be/CutQrj_5vWI?si=oQOzVKFX0uEZJOgT

[JayMac]

the new Mayor is a dark side fan.

What's a 'dark side fan'? Is he in league with the anthropocentrist Galactic Empire?