Henbury and Portishead rail lines to re-open within 5 years

[stopblock]

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Henbury- ... story.html

Rumor or fact

[Robin Summerhill]

Rumour or fact

Good question .....

The "revelations" by the "anonymous source," however, can't be checked. Looking around the North Somerset Council website, I came across two interesting bits of information.

Firstly, the report that was commissioned back in 2008. Beware though, it runs to 77 pages so its probably more than a bedtime read . As is often the case, however, the first few pages contain the "Executive Summary" which saved most of the councillors from ploughing all the way though it

http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyr ... Report.pdf

This gives cost estimates of betwen ú6.5m and ú15m just to get the thing built. Running costs of between ú1.6m and ú2.4m appear later in the summary. Revenue estimates also in the executive summary predict that a subsidy of between ú500k and ú900k would be needed each year. I wonder where that will be coming from?

Tantalisingly, the report mentions "timetables" in the appendices, but they don't appear to have been published online with the main report. Perhaps these are the "timetables" our "anonymous correspondent" has seen?

Secondly, an update from 2010

http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/Transport/ ... orward.htm

Towards the bottom, we read that construction costs are now ú38.9m...

In addition, looking at Norman Baker's pages http://www.dft.gov.uk/ministers/norman-baker/ and a search for "portishead" on the network rail site http://www.networkrail.co.uk/searchresu ... portishead doesn't shed any new light on anything that we haven't seen umpteen times before.

I for one won't be holding my breath waiting for the news in the franchaise award later this year

[jules]

I don't see any relevance in this being related to the current ex-FGW franchise competition whatsoever.

Whoever wins the franchise won't be re-opening the line - only Network Rail will do that. If it is part of the franchise bidding process (which we just don't know yet) then it would imply Network Rail / DofT already have definite plans to re-open it.

Otherwise, how can the successful franchisee possibly commit to run trains on it? At the very least, they'll be needing a railway line and some stations to do that!

[Noguidedbus]

The GRIP3 report can be seen here: http://www.travelplus.org.uk/public-tra ... ip3-report and makes for interesting reading. The photos are a walk down the length of the track.
Quite right that the TOC won't be required to rebuild the line, but it will be interesting to see what happens. If Portishead is specified, that will be a pointer that it may happen. If it isn't, I hope it doesn't mean no progress until the next franchise tender process. Could mean 7 years or more of inertia.

[the green mile]

I don't think the next franchise will be awarded based on adding value to the business by opening redundant lines to help hard pressed commuters. It will be down to the bidder who has the guts to implement as much of the McNulty report as they think they need to to win favour.

[Robin Summerhill]

Idly browsing through the January issue of Railway Magazine tonight, I came acros the following (copyright RM of course):

There's no cash for Portishead Scheme

"Hopes that North Somerset Council would be allocated ú43m from the Regional Growth Fund - for the reinstatement of the Bristol to Portioshead line for passenger services - have been dashed.

The council had presented what it believed was a strong case to get passenger services back on the line. It cited a study that showed commuting times would be 17 minutes by rail compared with an hour by road at peak times.

In a statement the council said it was "disappointed" by the decision but that the reopening of the line was still a priority.

It added that work would continue with Network Rail on the scheme and alternative funding sources would be assesed"

I don't know about you but, given the choice, I'm more likely to believe what RM has to say about railway-related issues than I am the Evening Post

[stopblock]

One of our drivers goes out to a lot of signal sighting meetings ( new form of train spotting). He says that the line WILL reopen to passengers but with a new station for portishead..
I think the bottom line on it all is seeing is beleving.