Work starts on clearing disused railway line

“@katachua - whether or not I am a cyclist is not a point for debate. I am certainly not against any railway line to Portishead and clearly there is a need for improvement to public transport between Portishead and Bristol.

The point I am making is that if you could have 3/4 of the full solution by (say) next year - surely that would be better than pushing for the full thing which may or may not ever happen.”

“@WestyWhatever

"Katachua - I am not a cyclist. I drive in to Bristol every day to work. That is not to say I haven't cycled on that very path"

Isn't there a slight contradiction there?”

“Katachua - I am not a cyclist. I drive in to Bristol every day to work. That is not to say I haven't cycled on that very path, that public money has been spent on, with my children. I am merely dealing in facts. The footpath / cycle path in places runs right along side the railway line - as a result further public money will need to be spent on redirecting that path. I actually think it is fantastic that you can actually cycle all the way into Bristol and only need to go on a couple of very small roads.”

“"The very useful cycle path between Portishead and Portbury runs right alongside the railway line in places"

And there, children, we see the real objection. Once again, cyclists opposing improvements to public transport.”

“Why hasn't a more pragmatic approach been taken to this whole project? A working railway line already exists as far as Portbury docks - a line that is used for heavy freight.

There also exists in Portbury a large number of empty car parks. Why not take a phased approach to all of this and create a station down in Portbury where the line is clear and still operable? A bus could initially be laid on for train ticket holders to take passengers from Waitrose carpark down to a station in Portbury, but also people could drive down to Portbury and leave their cars there.

The people driving down the Portbury hundred are most likely driving down there at the moment anyway with lack of any reasonable alternative to driving into Bristol. The works at the M5 junction have been hugely successful in reducing the queuing time and congestion.

The cost of getting something up and running there has to be significantly less than reinstating the old line between Portbury and Portishead.

An issue I see with bringing the train line into the Waitrose carpark area is how the line will get across Newfoundland Way. Traffic is already an issue getting out of the Village Quarter - if a level crossing was used (if that is an option) I cannot imagine the chaos it will cause with people attempting to get out of Phoenix Way along with parents trying to drop of children at an expanding Trinity primary school.

The very useful cycle path between Portishead and Portbury runs right alongside the railway line in places. I would imagine there would need to be changes made to that (some which run under large tunnels under roads) which will be adding to the costs. The railway line also appears to be running very close to a lot of houses in the Vale and the Village Quarter - which has it's own implications about reasonable running hours.

Get a working service up and running where there would be low impact on surroundings. Then once that is successfully working (and generating income) then look at the options for bringing into Portishead.”

“It's a good to see a bit of forward thinking to avoid delays later, in rail building time 2017 is not far away.”

“It's a good to see a bit of forward thinking to avoid delays later, in rail building time 2017 is not far away.”

“It's a good to see a bit of forward thinking to avoid delays later, in rail building time 2017 is not far away.”

“Hi Tim, I think you will find it difficult to obtain sight of any document where it indicates with certainty that the last known estimate (of the required amount of money) has been allocated and set aside for the Portishead Rail Link. The estimated costs have changed regularly over the years and as this report implies, a true and current estimated cost is not yet available. Similarly, North Somerset Council has never committed itself to how much it would provide in necessary subsidies for the rail link. You will however find evidence of the nominal Section 106 money promised for the railway but it is not much. The "tiny matter" you refer to is in fact the elephant in the room. There is undoubtedly support for a rail link but over the years it has been clear that this is not forthcoming I am afraid "from all sides. A station at Portbury I believe could happen but Portishead........unlikely.”

“PortisheadAH1: you're right of course, but it was my understanding that the money has basically been allocated, it's "just" the tiny matter of fulfilling all the various obligations and administrative details. There's tremendous support around this from all sides - if for some reason it didn't happen that would be a major blow for the entire region and all local governments involved. It would need a major fsckup for this not to work out (I hope?).

katachua: interesting, thanks for that. Hard to believe no one can work out who owns the land though. Financial viability would be different if it was "just" an extension from Portishead to Clevedon in my opinion. However, probably not particularly easy to do anyway, seeing how it's not even clear at the moment whether they'll be able to put the station at Harbour Rd (necessitating a bridge at Quays Avenue). I was just curious if the old trackbed was still available and of suitable gauge/standard, or if it had been built on.”