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TRAINS COULD TAKE THE STRAIN FOR COMMUTERS BY 2014
09:55 - 19 June 2008
Trains could be running on the line between Portishead and Bristol by
2014, a feasibility study has found.
Campaigners have long called for the
reopening of the line to ease the pressure on the A369, the only main road in
and out of the town. And with thousands of new homes also being built in the
town, the concerns led campaigners to dub Portishead "Britain's biggest
cul-de-sac".Consultants Halcrow were appointed by North Somerset Council to
carry out the feasibility study into the rail link. An initial report, published
yesterday, showed re-laying the missing three-mile section of track between
Portishead and the existing freight line at Portbury was feasible and would cost
between £7.5 million and £15 million.
The report, which took several
months to complete, said the costs of running a train service on the line would
be between £1.6 million and £2.4 million a year, of which up to £900,000 would
have to be covered by a subsidy.
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It is estimated a new rail service could carry
between 500,000 and a million passengers a year. A full report on the study is
expected next month.
