line under clifton suspension bridge?

[truckman060473]

what does, or did this serve? i can see now that this isn't the line that goes to Severn Beach but a freight line running to Portishead. what ran on this?

 

[Old Timer]

what does, or did this serve? i can see now that this isn't the line that goes to Severn Beach but a freight line running to Portishead. what ran on this?

Thisa should answer your question
http://www.portisheadrailwaygroup.org/

The line you are referring to could be the Portbury branch, which serves the car loading point. There used to be a daily train to Bescot but this has now been rerouted to Mossend via Hereford.

 

[EltonRoad]

This is indeed the Portbury branch. I used to live close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. There used to be a passenger service to Portishead but the branch closed to passengers in, I think, the 1960s, although specials and freight ran for a number of years after that. There used to be a station almost underneath the bridge - Clifton Bridge.

The line re-opened in 2002 as far as the Royal Portbury Docks, and carried both cars and (I think) coal. The spur to Portishead remained disused and is about 3 miles long. There has long been a campaign to get it relaid and reopened for passenger services, and a few years ago there was a positive move forward when the council purchased some land for use as a station and to protect it from being redeveloped.

The branch runs via Ashton Gate, which would make an ideal station for the football ground, and connects to the main line west of Parson Street. They ran steam specials down the line in 2004 and I was lucky enough to be on one!

There used to be a parallel line on the opposite side of the river starting at Hotwells Station, adjacent to the bottom of the Clifton Rocks Railway (campaign to get it reopened here: http://www.cliftonrocksrailway.org.uk), which ran as far as Avonmouth. However the Portway road took priority and it closed in 1921. The branch is still there after the tunnel runs out from under the Downs.

 

[The Planner]

A fair bit of money has been chucked at the proposals to re-open to Portishead, I think its at the preferred option stage.

 

[truckman060473]

i take it the freight carries cars from that massive "car park" storage depot you can see on google overhead map, the other side of the Avon river from Avonmouth docks

 

[EltonRoad]

You can also see it from that huge bridge that carries the M5 over the River Avon.

 

[Mojo]

A fair bit of money has been chucked at the proposals to re-open to Portishead, I think its at the preferred option stage.

North Somerset Council bought the line past the docks and wants to turn it into a loony busway.

 

[The Planner]

Is that recent ?? as Ive seen plans for proposed signalling, loops, line speeds, the works...

 

[anthony263]

Well there were plans for it to become a busway but local people are playing hell over it as they want a train not a bus. Network rail have said that they will have to upgrade the line to allow for higher line speeds and i have heard that they may have to have 4 tracks between Parson street & Temple meads before the portishead trains can run.

Didnt cotsworld rail want to run a open acess service between Portishead & gloucester a few years ago? i am sure i read about it somewhere

 

[Mojo]

Is that recent ?? as Ive seen plans for proposed signalling, loops, line speeds, the works...

Yes, North Somerset council meeting in January it came about, much to dismay of local campaigners and residents who want a railway line back.

 

[dk1]

Did this route on a UK Railtours charter a couple of years ago, The 'Portbury Docker' i think. Timings were stricked even on a Saturday due to the volumes of freight, particually coal. We went into every siding.

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

The busway will almost certainly fall through IMHO. A glance at the plans to reuse the old Mangotfield LMS line as a busway and the continual attempt to put a tram service back in Bristol show that very few transport schemes Bristol council come up with ever see fruition.


I hope they get the line back. Portishead is certainly big enough now to be worthy of one. The main argument to NOT put one back is that the present track was relaid as a freight line, and is too bumpy to run anything at above 30mph. Seems a bit of cop out judging by all the relaying of the Stirling line that went on, but I admire their creativity.

 

[royaloak]

Surely its only a question of putting a tamper over it a few times to raise the speed to say 50mph, even ifs its just a split maximum speed limit for the passenger trains and careful timetabling for the freights.

 

[The Planner]

No, it needs lots of signalling and loops to accomodate the proposed service. It is effectively one train in section even though there are track circuits down there.

 

[royaloak]

Oh sorry, thought it was double track

 

[Oracle]

I remember the line from whehn I was at Bristol Poly as was in the mid-1970s. It seems to have potentially scenic views. At the time the Severn Beach line was very undernourished (money-wise), and the buses horrendously expensive (compared to London).

 

[Ivo]

I honestly don't see how a busway to Portishead would work. The 357/358/359 buses aren't particularly busy, and why? Because people don't like travelling by bus if they don't have to. The only advantage to this scheme is that it would alleviate the A369, which is the town's only notable access road. But there would be public fury if a new access road was opened but is only available to four bendy buses each hour. Honestly, some of the councils around here...!

If possible, which I realise it probably isn't, I would go one step further, and extend the line beyond Portishead, to Clevedon. I know this would mean tunnelling under Portishead (about half a mile at the shortest point), but other than that costs would be relatively minimal. And it would release Nailsea & Backwell to serve Nailsea and Backwell!

 

[Z12XE]

Did this route on a UK Railtours charter a couple of years ago, The 'Portbury Docker' i think. Timings were stricked even on a Saturday due to the volumes of freight, particually coal. We went into every siding.

I was on that as well - October 2008 according to the datestamp on my photos - it was an excellent trip, I remember them being concerned about timings etc due to the freight.

I did wonder how many of those cars sat there until they rusted, given that the car industry along with a lot of others was collapsing at that time.

 

[Mojo]

Portishead is already on track for a "showcase" bus route which will, like the rest, be huge expenditure for no real results.

The first stage of rapid transit to Long Ashton has already got the go-ahead. We really can hope the loony busway doesn't get the go-ahead, but with the crazy person in charge of Transport at North Somerset Council, who can say?

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

I honestly don't see how a busway to Portishead would work. The 357/358/359 buses aren't particularly busy, and why? Because people don't like travelling by bus if they don't have to. The only advantage to this scheme is that it would alleviate the A369, which is the town's only notable access road. But there would be public fury if a new access road was opened but is only available to four bendy buses each hour. Honestly, some of the councils around here...!

If possible, which I realise it probably isn't, I would go one step further, and extend the line beyond Portishead, to Clevedon. I know this would mean tunnelling under Portishead (about half a mile at the shortest point), but other than that costs would be relatively minimal. And it would release Nailsea & Backwell to serve Nailsea and Backwell!

If we want to do the job properly, there already existed a prototype.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weston,_Clevedon_and_Portishead_Light_Railway
Good idea though actually. It would certainly boost tourism to Clevedon, and would be rather a scenic route, at least in places.

Id put a fiver on the busway never getting built. Bristol is in love with Buses, and whilst they give a good service, are not exactly comfortable. I can remember last time I rode on their park and ride and lost count how many times we clipped the pavement traveling round the old docks! Personally Id like an carpark/tram interchange at Mangotsfield, and use the old trackbed into the city centre for that. Like thats ever going to happen! Bristol hasnt managed a major transport project successfully since GWML

Rest easy, if they can find a way not to build a busway, they will be sure to find it. Cynical perhaps, but ive lost count how many infrastructure studies they do that never see fruition.

 

[Drsatan]

Portishead is already on track for a "showcase" bus route which will, like the rest, be huge expenditure for no real results.

The first stage of rapid transit to Long Ashton has already got the go-ahead. We really can hope the loony busway doesn't get the go-ahead, but with the crazy person in charge of Transport at North Somerset Council, who can say?

Oh, and don't forget that the Fareham-Gosport line was going to be turned into a tramway, but the DfT said no, it has to be turned into a busway, even though the trackbed from Fareham as far as the old RN arms dump at Bedenham (served until the late 80s/early 90s) is still in situ.

A busway for Gosport would make no sense since the people of Fareham and Gosport wanted a tramway, NOT a busway, so insisting on a busway wasn't very democratic. The A32 (only main road to Gosport) is gridlocked during the rush hour anyway, so building a guided busway would be like building a new road, but for buses only. Not to mention that any bus using the guided busway would have to leave it to enter Fareham or Gosport town centres, and would still get stuck in traffic.

The DfT/Hampshire County Council/Gosport Borough Council have been talking about a tramway for over 20 years now; 20 years of effort and money thrown down the drain. The only consolation is that GBC is vigorously opposed to the busway and has been trying to delay it at every opportunity. For instance, the trackbed's been cleared, but GBC want to check it for rare plants and animals.

 

[royaloak]

A busway for Gosport would make no sense since the people of Fareham and Gosport wanted a tramway, NOT a busway, so insisting on a busway wasn't very democratic.

Not forgetting the busway will use a disused railway bridge to cross the A27 then swing around to enter the Railway station, I was just wondering where they are hiding this bridge because I cant find it!

 

[GearJammer]

As a local to Fareham i personnaly believe the bus route is a waste of time, the authorities that want to push this through seem to think that everybody going up the A32 want to go to Fareham, they don't, there making there way out to the M27 and further affield!

 

[dk1]

I was on that as well - October 2008 according to the datestamp on my photos - it was an excellent trip, I remember them being concerned about timings etc due to the freight.

I did wonder how many of those cars sat there until they rusted, given that the car industry along with a lot of others was collapsing at that time.

Start of the recession & lots & lots of new cars!!

Only did the 'add-on' trip from Temple Meads & i needed to catch the 16.00 HST to Paddington. Never thought i was going to make it as we went into all them flippin sidings. Took ages didnt it? Met some great people & a good trip though.