From the Bristol Evening Post:
http://tinyurl.com/6tjoy
NEW GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR RAIL CAMPAIGNERS
BY JOHN WARREN J.WARREN
11:00 - 07 April 2005
Campaigners fighting to reinstate a rail link between Bristol and Portishead have been given a new glimmer of hope by one of the region's rail operators. First Great Western has hinted that it continues to have an interest in the line and has not abandoned the possibility of its reinstatement.
Alison Forster, First Great Western's managing director, said yesterday that, although the company was not suggesting the line will be reinstated, it should not be dismissed before it is properly costed.
John Rickard, secretary of the Portishead Railway Action Group, said: "It sounds very promising although the Strategic Rail Authority, through the Government department, has said that it doesn't support proposals to reinstate the line in the immediate future.
"If it's just down to money and First is prepared to put up the finance, then reinstatement may be possible, but it does seem to go against what was said by the SRA and Government.
"It raises a number of questions and it will be interesting to see what happens."
The rail operator is one of three companies bidding for the new Greater Western rail franchise, which will bring all train services in the region under the control of a single company.
Ms Forster made the pledge on Portishead at a briefing held by the company at the Marriott Royal Hotel in Bristol yesterday (WED).
She said that if First Great Western was successful in its bid it would carry out a full study and costing exercise to establish if a scheme would be viable.
She said: "We are going to look at how much the Portishead and Portbury link would cost.
"We need to see if it is deliverable and to properly cost it, we can take it on from there."
Ms Forster was responding to questions from Councillor Peter Crispin, chairman of the Bristol Transport Forum.
He suggested much more could be made of the city's urban rail network which he said was under utilised in some areas while over crowded in others, calling for increased investment.
He said: "The thing that concerns a lot of us about the new franchise is the impact that it will have on the local service.
"The biggest problem we have is how to get people from the surrounding urban area into Bristol and we see the rail network as key to that."
He argued the local service was being "squeezed out" to make way for high speed trains but if restructured could play an important part in reducing congestion.
Ms Forster later added: "I don't know how much it is going to cost to reinstate the line.
"If is going to be ú100million then we have no chance but if it was ú10milion it would be something we could look at."
Her comments contradict those made by Transport Minister Charlotte Atkins who said in January this year that she believed it was unlikely a train service would be reinstated on the line "in the foreseeable future".
She argued it would cost between ú5 million and ú7.5 million to upgrade the three-and-a-half miles of track needed to run trains between Bristol and the North Somerset town.
Another ú2.5 million would be needed each year in operating costs - with train fares only being able to cover between 50 and 60 per cent of those costs.
Ms Atkins said the Strategic Rail Authority could not pick up the bill because its priority was to maintain the current network.
But the comments from First have given campaigners fighting for the reinstatement new encouragement.
The DfT said it was unable to comment until after the general election on May 5 although any move to reopen a "any" railway would require public consultation.
The last train left Portishead more than 40 years ago.
The town is now the fastest growing in Somerset and when the Ashlands housing development is completed with 10,000 new homes, campaigners claim, will also become the largest town in the country without its own railway station.
The campaign for a rail link was boosted in December 2001 when a ú21 million line for freight trains from Royal Portbury Docks to Bristol was opened, leaving only the upgrading of a small section of track for a link to be completed.
In 2002 the company estimated that the cost of laying four miles of track and building a new station would cost about ú7 million.
Wessex Trains said it would want significant investment to come from the Government if the track was to be reopened.
The Greater Western rail franchise, which is being introduced in April 2006 will unite services now run by First Great Western and Wessex Trains under one operator.
The aim of the new franchise is to improve local and regional services in the Bristol, Cardiff and South West areas.
This includes additional peak seating capacity, more regular timetables and greater cross-Bristol journey opportunities.
The new "super franchise" will mean one company will be in charge of the majority of services throughout the area - including those between Bristol and London.
The short listed bidders, First, National Express and Stagecoach, will receive invitations to tender in June.
