The Bristol Railway Archive

Latest on the Portishead rail link,

North Somerset council are saying they hope to have the line open by the end of 2026 after North Somerset council and west of England combined authority both agreed to put in 10 million extra each to cover extra costs after the DFT agreed to put an extra 15 million in and agreed to cover any extra costs as a result of inflation,

This brings the current cost of reopening the line to 159 million,

The DFT have now said they are considering the business case for the line and hope to announce the go ahead on 19/2/23

The latest cost savings have seen capacity reduced on the line, the new station at Portishead will now only be 3 coaches long not the 5 previous planed, a 140 seats less per train in the peak

And also there will be no building on the station not even a bus shelter to give cover when waiting for a train,

The plan for Pill to be the only intermittent station in the line is unchanged

Why another 4 years? If it gets scaled back any further it probably won't be worth going ahead. All the money and years of campaigning will have been wasted. Is it any wonder that anything ever gets done in this country!!!

Roy

Latest news today is that inflation could 'wipe out more than £11m from plans to invest in public services in the West of England potentially impacting huge projects like reopening railways, upgrading bus services and building new cycle lanes'. Is there a determination not to see this project through to completion or scale it back so much that it becomes a white elephant? Cycle lanes are absolutely at the bottom of the list in my estimation when I think back to how much time and money was wasted and disruption caused between Avonmouth and Severn Beach almost a decade ago. St Andrews Road was my regular commute for a few years back then and it was gridlock most days. The number of cyclists using the new lanes could be counted on the fingers of one hand while HGVs queued up nose to tail to get through the single line working in the roadworks.

Roy

I just accidentally clicked on a news item which says that a 'Development Consent Order' has been accepted by the new Transport Secretary Mark Harper. It appears that this gives the green light for preparation work to start on designs for the infrastructure. Still not spades in the ground yet if you read between the lines but hope for getting it done and dusted once and for all. Or is it just another step in the bureaucratic red tape?

Roy