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Council makes tracks toward Bristol to Portishead line

08:00 - 19-August-2008

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A rail link between Portishead and Bristol has moved a step
closer after North Somerset Council bought a three-mile section of defunct track
to safeguard its future.

The section of railway, which runs between the former station at Portbury and
Portishead, was owned by British Railway Board (Residuary) Ltd (BRB), which was
set up to manage British Rail's remaining assets when it was sold off in the
1990s.

After a consultation and review of the long-term future of the railway line
by the BRB in 2006, a recommendation was made that the land be sold – and North
Somerset Council has snapped it up.

The authority was due to sign off the purchase and hand over £75,000 to buy
the land this week.

The council has already agreed a long-term objective to re-open the
Portishead to Bristol railway line to passengers to alleviate the bottleneck
caused on the busy A369 by commuters trying to get out of the town to work.

But the project's backers face a struggle to find funds to make it a reality.
The Strategic Rail Authority has previously said it would not provide the funds
to restore and upgrade the track and last year the Government left the
Portishead-Bristol route out of its transport blueprint for the next 30
years.

Deputy leader and executive member for strategic planning and transport,
Councillor Elfan Ap Rees, said: "The purchase of this three-mile section of
track shows that we are serious about looking into options for transport links
from Portishead into Bristol."

The purchase comes just months after the publication of a consultant's report
which said re-opening the railway link was feasible and trains could be running
out of the town by 2014. North Somerset Council appointed consultants Halcrow to
carry out the feasibility study into the rail link last year.

The report, which was published in June, revealed that re-opening three-mile
section of track from Portishead to Portbury was feasible, but could cost up to
£15 million to complete, with annual running costs of between £1.6m and £2.4m a
year.

Options put forward in the study suggest rebuilding the Portishead station,
refurbishing the existing station at Pill and then running trains into
Bristol.

The trains would run either hourly or half hourly and either provide a direct
link into the city or stop at other stations, including Ashton, Parson Street
and Bedminster, on the way. It is estimated that the new service would carry
between 500,000 and one million passengers each year.

The news that the three-mile section of defunct track has been bought has
been welcomed by groups campaigning for the re-opening of the railway.

Portishead Railway Group chairman Alan Matthews, said: "This is a brilliant
step forward to re-opening the line. It shows that North Somerset Council is
committed to working towards getting a rail link up and running for
Portishead."

The line was closed to passenger traffic under the Beeching cuts in September
1964 and to freight in 1981 and has remained unused apart from the occasional
steam specials.

In 2002 the track between the former Portbury station and the docks was
opened for freight use at a cost of £21 million.

But the last three miles from Portbury to Portishead remained closed.Both the
Portishead Railway Group and the Gordano Valley Local Councils Transport Group
have been campaigning for years for the final section of the track to be
re-opened.

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I can't
believe its happened - such a loss to Weston and the south west.

Joe
, Bristol

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