Rail bosses attacks Bristol's 'woeful' lack of services

[madhattie]

From the Bristol Evening Post

Bristol suffers from a "woeful" lack of rail services and the area is failing to attract the funding it should, a Network Rail boss has told MPs.

Mike Gallop is the western region route enhancement manager for the publicly-owned company responsible for developing and maintaining the rail network.

Called to give evidence to a House of Commons committee investigating transport issues in the South West yesterday, Mr Gallop told MPs the train network was inadequate and the city also suffered from the lowest proportion of public transport per person of any urban area in the UK.

He also contrasted Bristol's record in attracting funding for transport schemes with the success of Birmingham, where an integrated transport authority (ITA) takes strategic decisions and lobbies for Government money.

But Mr Gallop insisted the electrification of services from Bristol to London would go ahead and told them a Bristol "metro" route, which would provide a cross-Bristol rail network using almost entirely existing lines, was achievable as long as the cash could be found.

Mr Gallop told the South West Regional Select Committee: "Bristol has the lowest proportion of public transport per head of any urban area in the UK.

"It is woefully under- provided with rail services, the majority of which is due to an accident of history and the way the Victorians laid out the railway network in Bristol.

"However, Bristol is an area of growth for the railway and it is a very important passenger revenue source. It will have an electrified railway in the next decade.

"Those aspirations for the Bristol area, known locally as the Bristol metro, are entirely achievable subject to funding and will deliver a much better railway for the people of Bristol."

Political differences between the four local authorities have been blamed for hampering major schemes to improve transport services.

The proposed super tram system to link the city centre with the northern fringes of Bristol floundered when the city council and neighbouring South Gloucestershire could not agree on the location of the northern terminus.

And last month hopes of creating an ITA to take greater control of public transport and roads in the former Avon area were dashed when Bristol's three neighbours, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and B&NES voted down the idea.

Supporters say an ITA would give the Greater Bristol area much more weight when lobbying the Government for cash to improve the bus, road and rail network and would allow councils to take greater control of bus and rail services and roads.

Bristol North West MP Doug Naysmith quizzed Mr Gallop about how much difference an ITA would make.

Mr Gallop told him: "My patch also includes Birmingham and the approach of Birmingham is markedly different. The success of Birmingham in attracting funding is marked."

The committee raised fears about potential disruption the electrification of the London- to-Bristol line would create.

MPs said all transport organisations should be involved in planning. Stopping train services while work was carried out should not happen at the same time as major roadworks or closures on the M5 or A303, they warned.

Mr Gallop told them they were working to ensure they "didn't score any own goals".

[Robin Summerhill]

The trouble is, we've heard all this before.

Every time somebody suggests re-using the Mangotsfield route for the purpose for which it was intended, Sustrans are up in arms.

I find it difficult to believe "Bristol has the lowest proportion of public transport per head of any urban area in the UK" if road transport is included - one of my regular gripes is that the roads of Bristol seem to be permanently cluttered up with half-empty subsidised buses.

I feel the biggest disincentive to Bristol in having a worthwhile local railway service is something that nothing can be done about - the siting of Temple Meads station

Despite my father working on railway and therefore getting privilege tickets, my parents gave up using the train from Staple Hill to Bristol when St Phillips closed in 1953. The reason cited was that it was "too far to walk" from Temple Meads to the shopping centre.

I doubt that they were alone even then, and the thought of a 15-minute walk from the station to Broadmead is likely to put even more people off in 2009. I don't include myself in that, incidentally, but I'm just injecting a bit of realism into the situation.

[stopblock]

Is the reason the main shopping area is so far away by default or desgin ?I would presume that because pre war bristol was very dense in housing and shops and so no room for a station of any size was available.
What is requiered to make the link between shops and sation is a far better way of transporting passengers rather then waiting for the 8/9 service on a cold bus stop and sitting on the said bus on the incline in congestion. A few years back rumors were floating about that all busses and taxis would be at the back side of Temple meads where all the bristol and west development is but nothing came of that.

[AndyK]

Is the reason the main shopping area is so far away by default or desgin ?I would presume that because pre war bristol was very dense in housing and shops and so no room for a station of any size was available..

I think I remember reading that it was because the Bristol Docks authority objected to any route that would infringe on its extremely busy and valuable quays.

[jules]

I read somewhere that Brunel originally wanted to run the railway through Queen Square and build the first GWR terminal there. But even way back then the City Council wouldn't have it!

[WR Tim]

What I heard was that the stations used to be much more central to the shopping area (St Phillips more than Temple Meads). The main shopping area used to be old market but it moved towards the docks after heavy bombing during the second world war, leaving the stations a bit far out.

[Robin Summerhill]

What I heard was that the stations used to be much more central to the shopping area (St Phillips more than Temple Meads). The main shopping area used to be old market but it moved towards the docks after heavy bombing during the second world war, leaving the stations a bit far out.

Certainly when I was a lad (1950s) Broadmead had been built but the vestiges of the "old" shopping centre were Old Market Street and what Hitler left of Castle Street (for those not old enough to remember, this went directly west from Old Maket and is open space now). St Phillips was certainly the more convenient of the two

[jules]

It used to be all factories and freight yards between Temple Meads and St Philips. TM goods yard and the Distiller's Yeast Co come to mind (I'll never forget that smell of a morning!!)

But with the side entrance to TM car park and the new bridge across the river, the walk between TM and Midland Road/Old Market is now very, very much quicker.