Severn Beach line - information required

[heart-of-wessex]

Hello all,

I'm in the process of making my next Railworks Drivers Eye View along the Severn Beach branch and therefore need some info for my script.

It's been a long time since I went up the branch itself! Can anyone remember when a 'day' service began on weekdays, replacing the Leyland Lynx that used to be the permanent RRB in the daytime? Was that buses due to stock availability I assume, rather than just epic long engineering works? IIRC it was South Gloucester Bus & Coach that was contracted for the RRB?

What is the Avonmouth BHT sidings used for nowadays since the Didcot coals stopped running? Is the resident DB Class 08 still there, and do any wagon's usually park there, is there any EWS liveried HTA's left there?

Any local's know what the busiest station tends to be? I would have though St Andrews is quite popular in the morning and evening, and maybe Clifton Down is quite busy through the day being near a high street. Then again I guess they all get quite busy in the peak hours, are unit's often wedged in the morning and evening peaks?

And finally, and 'fun facts' or points of interest I may not have found online would be most useful.

If there's any info you can help with, it would be most appreciated


Cheers,

James.

 

[ooo]

The units are often very busy before and after school times for example between Stapleton Rd and Redland.

 

[HowardGWR]

Interesting that you think of it as a 'branch'. I can't think of any Bristolian who would so view it. 'Suburban railway' is how most locals would view it and we now have to think of it as a 'metro' apparently.

 

[Mintona]

There are still coal trains from Avonmouth, usually with DB Schenker 66s or Freightliner 70s these days, although the odd Colas 66 gets down there as well. It's rare to go past without there being at least one rake of DB Schenker coal wagons (I don't know the different types, sorry). I've never seen an 08 down there.

Clifton Down and Avonmouth appear to be the busiest stations on the branch itself. A lot of passengers travel from Severn Beach, Avonmouth, Shirehampton and Sea Mills to Clifton Down, where they are replaced by a whole load of other people going to mostly Stapleton Road or Bristol Temple Meads. St Andrews Road is probably the quietest station on the line, with the possible exception of Sea Mills.

 

[gnolife]

There are still coal trains from Avonmouth, usually with DB Schenker 66s or Freightliner 70s these days, although the odd Colas 66 gets down there as well. It's rare to go past without there being at least one rake of DB Schenker coal wagons (I don't know the different types, sorry). I've never seen an 08 down there.

Clifton Down and Avonmouth appear to be the busiest stations on the branch itself. A lot of passengers travel from Severn Beach, Avonmouth, Shirehampton and Sea Mills to Clifton Down, where they are replaced by a whole load of other people going to mostly Stapleton Road or Bristol Temple Meads. St Andrews Road is probably the quietest station on the line, with the possible exception of Sea Mills.

I'd have thought that St Andrews Road would certainly be the quietest station on the line, getting one third of the service that all the other stations get (with the exception of Severn Beach) and is the only station on the line that operates as a request stop.

 

[simonw]

There are still coal trains from Avonmouth, usually with DB Schenker 66s or Freightliner 70s these days, although the odd Colas 66 gets down there as well. It's rare to go past without there being at least one rake of DB Schenker coal wagons (I don't know the different types, sorry). I've never seen an 08 down there.

Clifton Down and Avonmouth appear to be the busiest stations on the branch itself. A lot of passengers travel from Severn Beach, Avonmouth, Shirehampton and Sea Mills to Clifton Down, where they are replaced by a whole load of other people going to mostly Stapleton Road or Bristol Temple Meads. St Andrews Road is probably the quietest station on the line, with the possible exception of Sea Mills.

St Andrews Road gets about 11,000 entries and exits. Sea Mills gets over 5 times as many, but Clifton Downs is well out in front.

Most of the industry around St Andrews is long gone so it is not surprising that the station doesn't get much usage as there are few if any houses nearby either.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Hello all,

I'm in the process of making my next Railworks Drivers Eye View along the Severn Beach branch and therefore need some info for my script.

It's been a long time since I went up the branch itself! Can anyone remember when a 'day' service began on weekdays, replacing the Leyland Lynx that used to be the permanent RRB in the daytime? Was that buses due to stock availability I assume, rather than just epic long engineering works? IIRC it was South Gloucester Bus & Coach that was contracted for the RRB?

What is the Avonmouth BHT sidings used for nowadays since the Didcot coals stopped running? Is the resident DB Class 08 still there, and do any wagon's usually park there, is there any EWS liveried HTA's left there?

Any local's know what the busiest station tends to be? I would have though St Andrews is quite popular in the morning and evening, and maybe Clifton Down is quite busy through the day being near a high street. Then again I guess they all get quite busy in the peak hours, are unit's often wedged in the morning and evening peaks?

And finally, and 'fun facts' or points of interest I may not have found online would be most useful.

If there's any info you can help with, it would be most appreciated


Cheers,

James.

A set of photos of the line:

http://simonwhittinghamphotography.zenfolio.com/p962813520

 

[Parallel]

I'd have thought that St Andrews Road would certainly be the quietest station on the line, getting one third of the service that all the other stations get (with the exception of Severn Beach) and is the only station on the line that operates as a request stop.

It is definitely the quietest from my experience, though I am led to believe, from last year since the timetable change and the reduction of weekday services (four hour gaps at some points now), it no longer serves as a request stop.

Clifton Down is probably the busiest station on the line.

The line has had incredible growth over the last few years but still has a lot of potential IMO. Hopefully trains can eventually run half-hourly along the line with hourly extensions to Severn Beach.

 

[fgw47]

There are still coal trains from Avonmouth, usually with DB Schenker 66s or Freightliner 70s these days, although the odd Colas 66 gets down there as well. It's rare to go past without there being at least one rake of DB Schenker coal wagons (I don't know the different types, sorry). I've never seen an 08 down there.

Clifton Down and Avonmouth appear to be the busiest stations on the branch itself. A lot of passengers travel from Severn Beach, Avonmouth, Shirehampton and Sea Mills to Clifton Down, where they are replaced by a whole load of other people going to mostly Stapleton Road or Bristol Temple Meads. St Andrews Road is probably the quietest station on the line, with the possible exception of Sea Mills.

I've not seen a gronk down there myself either. Colas 66s/70s haven't been down for some months, as their Ratcliffe-Gloucester-Portbury-Ratcliffe diagrams haven't run for a while.

Interestingly enough, the new timetable release sees a new 'Binliner' working going through Clifton Down and Avonmouth. http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/H68744/2016/01/05/advanced

 

[HowardGWR]

It is definitely the quietest from my experience, though I am led to believe, from last year since the timetable change and the reduction of weekday services (four hour gaps at some points now), it no longer serves as a request stop.

Clifton Down is probably the busiest station on the line.

The line has had incredible growth over the last few years but still has a lot of potential IMO. Hopefully trains can eventually run half-hourly along the line with hourly extensions to Severn Beach.

I suppose as a sort of 'Bristol Overground' that's true, but the real Bristolian 'desire lines' (that's a transport term, hopefully self-explanatory) are in different directions altogether. If you could get a 'tram train' solution that would involve leaving the TM area to go on into the City / Centre and Broadmead shopping area, Bristol's suburban rail offering would be transformed, including the Severn Beach line. Having written that, if the Portway* trajectory could extend into the centre from Sea Mills, that would be transformational too, as well as the planned 'Metrobus' routes being 'trammed'. Another desire line route is not far from the closed Brislington line out to Whitchurch, (most of which is still there).

It's not going to happen though.

*was the Port and Pier' - can be googled.

 

[TheNewNo2]

I suggest reading the station Wikipedia articles out to Avonmouth (afraid I haven't worked on the SAR/SVB ones yet), they have plenty of interest.

 

[Mojo]

The more frequent service all day on Mon - Sat, as well as the Sunday service, began in the May 2008 timetable. There were a few additional peak hour trains from the December 2007 timetable, but the bus didn't stop running on weekdays until May.

Clifton Down is definitely the busiest station, although using the official stats should be done with caution, as since the introduction of "zonal" fares its usage has been overstated.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Thank you

I never try to rely on Wiki, unless I can back the info up elsewhere. I thought St Andrews would have been busy but was unaware of the situation of the industries in the area.
I suppose it was busier than nowadays once upon a time.

Ah yes the zonal fares, that started in 2011?

I still call it a branch, wouldn't say metro, would be more of a bus route if 143's still dominated the route. There was plans for a guided busway as well wasn't there?

 

[Mojo]

Yes, the Lib Dems wanted to build a guided busway, although it would never have happened; Network Rail blocked designating the route as a Community Rail line due to its importance for diversions, so it's now only the passenger train service that is designated.

 

[simonw]

Latest stats from ORR

14/15 followed by 13/14 followed by % change.
Clifton Down 619,766 573,770 8%
Severn Beach 224,658 195,824 15%
Stapleton Road 178,114 157,294 13%
Lawrence Hill 150,774 136,316 11%
Montpelier 130,560 121,294 8%
Avonmouth 119,924 111,440 8%
Redland 105,610 93,176 13%
Sea Mills 64,512 58,106 11%
Shirehampton 52,480 51,542 2%
St.Andrew's Road 11,184 13,376 -16%


Interesting to see the relative high usage of Severn Beach.

 

[HowardGWR]

Latest stats from ORR

14/15 followed by 13/14 followed by % change.
Clifton Down 619,766 573,770 8%
Severn Beach 224,658 195,824 15%
Stapleton Road 178,114 157,294 13%
Lawrence Hill 150,774 136,316 11%
Montpelier 130,560 121,294 8%
Avonmouth 119,924 111,440 8%
Redland 105,610 93,176 13%
Sea Mills 64,512 58,106 11%
Shirehampton 52,480 51,542 2%
St.Andrew's Road 11,184 13,376 -16%


Interesting to see the relative high usage of Severn Beach.

Probably because the train will 'beat the bus' from SB to the centre. However, if you look at the Portway stations, Shirehampton, Sea Mills, it is perhaps not surprising the figures are low. The P and R bus that rolls past these places every 15 mins will get you to the centre of Bristol in about 25 mins on average and has the use of a bus lane to escape the queues on that road, going in.

On the other hand, the train times to TM itself from that area are competitive (25 mins) and a zone fare of £2 helps; this despite going around the houses, although train is competitive to those stations including and east of Clifton. It's just that those are not employment areas.

It's the fact that TM is nowhere near the shopping centre or Old City that is the killer for that line, as I think I mentioned above, when writing of the old Port and Pier line. A fast tram on the level route along the Portway and through the City would win hands down.

 

[Johncleesefan]

Guided busway? Is that like two ditches the wheels sit in and guide the bus round the route without the need for the driver to steer, are there stations involved with these? Sound like fun

 

[HowardGWR]

Guided busway? Is that like two ditches the wheels sit in and guide the bus round the route without the need for the driver to steer, are there stations involved with these? Sound like fun

I wonder where it would have gone, as once you reach Narrow Ways junction, where do you go then? Perhaps it would have left the route at Sea Mills and followed the route of the P and R bus (or tram) like I just described above. What would have happened to the Clifton Down line?

 

[455driver]

Guided busway? Is that like two ditches the wheels sit in and guide the bus round the route without the need for the driver to steer, are there stations involved with these? Sound like fun

It is when somebody walks in front of the bus as happened in Leeds, splat!