A slack day at the letters desk at the North Somerset Times then. Some will just never admit that they have lost the argument, do they? I doubt that any of his protests or submissions were taken at all seriously, but he really needs to concentrate on the day job. That circus needs its clown fully focused.

 
Yes, the content of Barry Cash’s letter is quite similar to his response to the DCO. I’ve tried to establish how big the membership of his Portishead Busway Campaign is, but as far as I can tell it’s just Barry.

I believe he lives in Bishopston, Bristol. So why he has devoted so much time and effort to try and deny Portishead it’s railway defeats me.

He recently had a letter published in a local freebie maligning the new station at Ashley Down (which is at least somewhere near where he lives!) so we can expect more of the same from him as MetroWest develops. For editors, he’s an easy go-to guy for the anti-rail angle.

 
Mr Cash has never obviously travelled on the Translohr rubber tyred system of Clermont Ferrand. Not for the faint hearted or those of tender derrieres. I think that letter represents the last gasps of a dying enterprise.

 

I wouldn't be so sure of that.......

https://www.northsomersettimes.co.uk/news/24927819.bus-service-makes-sense-expanding-portishead-rail/

 
The location proposed in 2014 for Ashton Gate Station is about 500m closer to Parson St Jct that the old site, just south of Barons Close. All the details are here: https://travelwest.info/app/uploads/2020/05/MetroWest-Stations-Package-Ashton-Gate.pdf

 

You're welcome! Although I don't remember if I came up with that sobriquet or read it somewhere.

 

Mayor Dan was very quick off the mark, but is it really a victory for him? The real victory will come with the first train. Dan will not be the Western Super Mayor (thank you JayMac) by then, so is getting his claim to a part of history in quickly.

There are still potential stumbling blocks, but plenty of reasons to believe it will really happen this time. Not least is having the political ducks in a row, with WECA and the national government being of the same party. That national government will need all the good news it can present come the next local elections, and this fits the bill. Others will claim some of the credit, as all have a hand on the controls at one time or another - this has been going on for so long that even the Whigs may have been involved - but if Dan and the current powers that be get this line over the line, I would think they can claim most of it. The previous administration did rather drag its heels and go back to square one a couple of times, entirely without need. A lot of the preparation has been done already, granted, but always without giving the final nod. I expect to see former Mayor Dan on the first service with whoever the transport secretary is by then. Whoever is wearing the WECO hat by then will have only a supporting role on the podium.


The platform was still there in 2012, and I can't think of anything that has happened since that would have caused it to be ripped up. There's two as it happens, either side of what was once double track here.



I may be wrong, but I don't think this is the site envisioned by WECA for the reopened station.  Land has been set aside by the Ashton Rise development, adjacent to the car park side end of the MetroBust skew bridge. This Bristol Post article is unusually helpful in describing the location, with a bonus photo of the station in use in the Olden Days.

 
Reopening confirmed again!

The Railway Gazette is reporting....

Regional mayor claims victory in Portishead railway reopening funding fight

 
Please could someone remind me where the temporary park and ride station for the 1996 Bristol festival of the sea was?

Mark

 

The possibility of a station at Ashton Gate was discussed and investigated, but ruled out of MetroWest 1 in 2014:

Source: https://travelwest.info/projects/metrowest/

So if it really is back on the agenda, it's very good news.

 

I know what you mean CfN but if it is a new feature then, given the funding shortfall up until yesterday....where did this cash come from?
I think you're correct in observing that a platform still exists.  It might even be in a reasonably reusable condition but there will still be considerable costs to reinstate it....access, signalling and so forth.


Just a thought.... might some of those costs be contributed to by the Lansdown family who own and manage Ashton Gate stadium?  I think that I heard mention of it somewhere before.

 
To be fair, johnneyw, you may well be right on that.

My rather fond recollections of the whole Portishead reopening campaign possibly suggested to me that the reopening of Ashton Gate station was included in that.

And it could be: the platform is still there - it just needs a bit of vegetation clearance. 

 

I was under the impression that Ashton Gate was only on the wish list with just Pill and Portishead station being the first ones to be built for the line reopening.

Edit to add that info about this online is not very clear.

 

Typical. You wait 60 years for two stations, then 6 come along all at once.

This is excellent news, though! I look forward to seeing the first train, to be followed within a week by the first complaint about not being able to get on at Pill because it's packed to bursting point.

 
Yes, Ashton Gate station and Pill station are (and probably always have been) in the plans for the reopening of the Portishead branch line for passengers. 

 
Did I just hear correctly on the local news this evening?  After yesterday's announcement about the Portishead Line, there's an announcement today that another station is to be added...the reopening of Ashton Gate on the same line?

 
That is what it says, in the press release quoted above:

 
Am I right to assume that the UK Government is not offering any extra money, but WECA and NS are making up the shortfall?

 
I'm delighted, perhaps even a little Numb, to see that Dummy transport ministers have finally approved this scheme for Portishead. The line has been through some Sour Times but this reopening - well, It Could Be Sweet. It will be a real alternative to nearby Roads.

Let's just hope it gets some proper rolling stock and not a 153 Glory Box.

 

I suspect this is because the money isn't 100% committed until both authorities have voted it through but from the statements, no-one seems to be expecting any difficulty with the votes.

 

That's how we do things here in North Somerset: best not to make any rash promises. 

 
The Press Release from North Somerset Council is a bit more nuanced, and uses words like 'if' and 'could':

Source: North Somerset Council

 

Just to be pedantic, the scheme wasn't cancelled six months ago, the Government simply announced a review of all transport infrastructure schemes. 

This looks to be unalloyed good news.  This very local announcement is in a similar vein (ie local announcements of what you'd normally expect to be announced by a Minister) to what the Weston-super-Mare MP told his local newspaper about the Weston loop being electrified.   

 

A lot of recent press releases from the West of England MCA have been written in a similar way, giving prominence to the Mayoral role and Dan Norris in particular. I suspect this is partly down to the Government's attitude to devolution, though it may also be an attempt to clarify where Mayoral power lies now Bristol no longer has one...

 
From the Portishead railway group


Dear Member,
We weren't expecting any news about funding until March, but late this afternoon we received the amazing news that full funding has now been obtained and construction will start this summer.

After almost 25 years of campaigning, this sudden good news feels almost hard to believe, but it fits with the many comments and observations that we've picked up over the past few months. After all the work that has already been done, construction of the line really is happening!

You can find the full press release from Dan Norris, the Mayor of the West of England, here:
https://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/news/full-steam-ahead-for-bristol-portishead-line/

There's a lot more detail to come and we'll update you on how the full funding has been sourced when we have that information. However, it seems that the full business case will now be passed in March, with construction starting in the summer.

The information in our last email is relevant to all this, so here's a reminder of the links to the North Somerset Council meeting last month. You can find all the papers here under item 8:
https://n-somerset.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=169&MId=1159&Ver=4
along with the latest report to Council:
https://n-somerset.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s6797/08%20MetroWest%20Phase%201%20Report%20to%20the%20Council%2014th%20January%2025%20-%20Final.pdf
 
Regards,
Peter
 
Peter Maliphant
Membership Secretary
Portishead Railway Group

 
My concern is that once Dan Norris leaves the WECA job,will his successor change their minds.

For those who live near by the route should make sure the new WECA Mayor from whatever Political party

will commit them selves to not objection to the start of construction of the project.

 

The press release seems weirdly egotistical. Perhaps there's an election coming up? Not to mention that any PR professional who uses "full steam ahead" to refer to any railway other than a heritage line deserves to be sent to the stocks.

But, on the other hand, if the egomaniac sees it as his life's work to bring us new stations then I suppose we should indulge him. Hopefully he can be goaded into getting us some overhead electrification. 

 
I’ll believe it when I see a train heading to Portishead.

 
If it had been anywhere else in the UK it would have been opened many years ago. We do things differently in these parts…slowly!

 
If anyone can track down the letter from Lord Peter Hendy to Dan Norris, it would be useful to see the exact wording of it, so that the government cannot weasel their way out of it yet again!

 
Interesting to note this line in the WEMCA press release:

 

A more realistic date?

And as stated previously, if this was a Scottish line it would have been open many years ago.

 
Hopefully this is the final nail in the coffin for the
rubber matted  Guided Bus Barry Cashway idea.....

 
I'm watching it on BBC Points West.  Looks like it's on.  I wonder how Bristol will manage to derail things this time?

 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3lqzy5qqdo

Both BBC and Bristol Post are reporting this, with a 2027 date.

Am I confident?

Does the upcoming WECA election in May make this a priority, after the current government cancelled it 6 months ago? I know I am cynical about this but this has been on/off/maybe for nearly 15-20 years.

 
A further update from the Portishead Railway Action Group


 Dear Member,
 
Latest News:
You may have seen recent press and media comment about ‘Trains possibly running by 2027’. Whilst there will be no news until March about the Treasury review, the source of this story is the North Somerset Full Council meeting held on 14th January, which contained some very positive commitments to deliver the reopened line, assuming the missing funding is made available. For example:
5.1.1 It is anticipated the Full Business Case will be approved by the DfT by April 2025.
5.3.1 The DfT will continue to act as the project sponsor and will own all the capital delivery risk, for any future cost escalation
 If you’d like to read the whole report, you can find all the papers here under item 8:
https://n-somerset.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=169&MId=1159&Ver=4
along with the latest report to Council:
https://n-somerset.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s6797/08%20MetroWest%20Phase%201%20Report%20to%20the%20Council%2014th%20January%2025%20-%20Final.pdf
 
PRG Website:
Paul Gregory, our long-serving custodian of the award-winning PRG website, is looking to step back from this role. We are looking for 2 people to share the work of managing our website and regularly updating its content. If you have any experience of managing websites, please do email me now! We’d be delighted to hear from you and I can tell you more about what’s involved.
 
Western Gateway Consultation:
You may also have seen coverage of the Western Gateway transport plans. This is unlikely to immediately affect the Portishead & Pill reopening, but it is relevant to the longer term transport infrastructure for Bristol and the wider area. You can find out more here:
https://westerngatewaystb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3523.Western-Gateway-STP-2024-2050.pdf
and there is also a consultation running that closes this Sunday 2nd February, which you can find here:
https://haveyoursaywesterngateway.participatr.io/
 
Lastly, our AGM has been put back until April and will take place once the Treasury funding review has been completed and made public
 
Regards,
Peter Maliphant

 
Posted on Friday From the BBC

 
As a long suffering resident of CfN's temporary abode for 6 months...I would!

No railway, no post office for 2 years, one bank and 3 small chemists who can't replace Boots!....for a town of almost 30,000 inhabitants

If only CfN had stayed !!!!!

 
Perhaps some things, FarWestJohn, but I wouldn't blame everything on the Portishead Line. 

 
I think the Portishead re opening saga shows up what is wrong with everything in this country.

 
Personally, I measure it from 1964, when passenger services on the line ended and the 'new' station (which was built only ten years earlier) was closed. That was ... erm ... 60 years ago.

Details are on wikipedia.

Chris from Portishead (I can claim that, as I lived there for six months )

 
Fast-tracking. After what? 30 years? 40 years? Some say 50 years?

 
Consultants. 

 
Putting it bluntly, if this was a line in Scotland the passenger trains would have been running for around 10 years, Wales a little less.

But £32m spent on what exactly?

 
Trying to embrace the concepts 'Portishead' and 'fast-tracking' at the same time risks damaging one's mental health...

 

£32M spent to date?  Astonishing

A reminder of what the costs of complying with the years of accumulated legislation and consultants tying themselves and everyone else into ever tighter knots are doing to our economy and to the chances of ever getting anything done. 

 
Yesterday there was talk of the "fast tracking" of the Filton/Brabazon station and today the Beeb reports similar hopes for the Portishead Line with trains apparently running in two years.
Here's a link to the article:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn57yy9xneno

 
 An update from the Portishead Railway group

Dear Member,

It's a couple of months since our last update, so we thought that you would like to know our current understanding of what is going on.

The Treasury spending review, of which the Portishead & Pill line reopening is one small part, is still under way and will continue until March or April next year.

We have been consulting carefully with many sources to understand what that means and we have been able to establish the following:
PRG’s Public Petition, presented in Parliament by Sadik al Hassan MP, was very well and widely received in Whitehall.
The Treasury review will conclude in March/April, presumably in time for the next budget.
The mood in Whitehall about reopening the Portishead line is still positive.
The final decision will be a financial one about spending across the whole of government. The Portishead line will be just a tiny part of that. This could be good or bad news.
No one, including our MP, will know what that decision is until the Treasury review outcome is made public.
What we do know is that the reopening project is still live and that work by the MetroWest team is continuing.
The budget has been reduced (to an undisclosed figure) with the aim of delivering a minimum specification solution.
If funding is secured, the reopened line will still have two stations – Pill and Portishead – as intended.
‘Minimum specification solution’ means things like platforms will be designed for five-car trains, but built to accommodate 3-car trains initially.
There is much discussion about why the cost of repairing existing bridges and tunnels along the line should be borne by the Reopening project, rather than by Network Rail’s maintenance budget for the existing freight line.
The much-delayed Northumberland line to Ashington reopened on 15th December 2024, having followed a remarkably similar path of delays, bureaucracy and constantly inflating costs. It finally cost £298 million to reopen for passengers 18 miles of post-Beeching track that was still entirely in use for freight.
This leaves Portishead as the only other railway reopening project in the country that is currently under way and at an advanced stage of development.
A positive decision on funding next Spring would allow the project to be completed before the next General Election in 2029.
Regards,
Peter
 
Peter Maliphant
Membership Secretary
Portishead Railway Group

 
Network Rail have posted this YouTube video about biodiversity along the railway:

https://youtu.be/6-IhGDZfndk?si=gbghsSbzHHf7Hep2

Interesting to hear what they have to say about the Portishead route. He uses these phrases when talking about the Avon Gorge::

"a freight railway which is soon to be converted to passenger use"

and

"In a few years time you'll be able to take a train along the Avon Gorge as we're working to reopen the line to passengers"

 
The spending review is slated for the spring of next year I think.

 


Portishead Railway Group
 
From:
portisheadrail@183601974.mailchimpapp.com
To:
pbmusician@aol.com

Mon, 4 Nov at 11:55


Dear Member,

Last week's budget contained news of the three big rail projects - HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and EastWest Rail to Cambridge - but nothing about smaller projects like Portishead & Pill. This wasn't surprising, nor does it mean bad news.

We understand that MetroWest Phase One – the Portishead & Pill railway reopening - forms part of the ongoing review, which was mentioned by Rachel Reeves in her October 30th Budget speech.
 
We also believe that the Full Business Case is to be submitted soon, which seems to be a positive sign. More news is expected over the next month or so.

Regards,
Peter
 
Peter Maliphant
Membership Secretary
Portishead Railway Group

 

New Forest East (Fawley-Hythe) - Tory MP
North Somerset (Portishead) - Labour MP

Just saying....

 
Dan Norris quietly confident Portishead will happen....

“There is cost stability now of around £150 million and we are in a strong position to proceed with that, but it’s not a guarantee because that’s a decision that’s being made against other projects up and down the land.

“But what I am confident about saying is that I would argue our Portishead line is so close to starting that it puts it in a good position to go forward.

“They were clearing the trackside of trees and various other foliage with a view to doing significant things in the spring and getting on with the tracks.

“We’ve very close to doing it. That puts us in a strong position because we’re literally at the point of putting shovels in the ground.

“Economically it makes a lot of sense compared to the other lines that are in contention against us.”

He said the government would make a priority list of railway projects currently under threat of not happening.

Mr Norris, also MP for North East Somerset & Hanham, said: “Nothing is done until it’s done.

“You think you’ve got it and then somehow it slips out of grasp but we’re very close and I’m quietly confident.”

 
Sadik al Hassan presented the petition the day before, on Wednesday 11th September.

 
From the Portishead Railway Group



Dear Member,
 
Thank you to everyone who signed and helped gather signatures for the Public Petition to restore the missing funding for the Portishead and Pill line reopening.
 
We ended up with 5,604 signatures, collected in just over 2 weeks. The petition was handed to Sadik Al-Hassan, MP for North Somerset, and he has told us that he will be delivering it in Parliament this Thursday.
 
Just to be clear, in the light of some comments in the press and social media, the reopening project is under review. It has not been cancelled and the majority of the funding remains in place.
 
We have no timetable for the spending review that is currently underway, but we assume it will be completed before the October budget. All our local councils and MPs continue to support the reopening project and will be exerting whatever influence they have.
 
As our petition stated, the project offers important benefits to Portishead, Pill and the wider Bristol area, benefitting the environment, reducing congestion and emissions and encouraging investment and economic growth.
 
The foolishness of stopping a project that has 10 years’ work already completed and over £32 million already spent is not hard to see. The project to reopen the railway to Portishead and Pill is ready for construction to start and, given the necessary funding, could deliver a flagship completed reopening and operational railway in less than three years.

Regards,
Peter
 
Peter Maliphant
Membership Secretary
Portishead Railway Group

 
From the BBC:

 

We don't normally *do* too many closures in "On this day" - but I have added this one so that it will come up next year.

 
60 years ago yesterday since closure.


https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/portishead-railway-fight-60-years-9536703

 
Thanks for the reminder.  I'll get myself down there for 19.00.

 
Come on Coffee Shop members ...get yourselves down to Temple Meads tonight,join the rally and sign the petition !

Dear Member,

Thank you to everyone who is collecting signatures for the Public Petition to Parliament. We're hearing impressive examples of members gathering more than 100 signatures at a time!
 
We now have permission to collect outside Waitrose (but not Sainsbury) and will be in the Precinct on Tuesday morning. If you would be willing to help at either of these locations for an hour or two any time over the next 4 days, please reply now to this e-mail with the times and date you can offer.

The petition sheet and briefing note are here : www.portisheadrailwaygroup.org/petition.html
The total signatures received so far will also soon appear there.

Thanks very much for your support. A reminder of all the key information is below.

Regards,
Peter
 
Peter Maliphant
Membership Secretary
Portishead Railway Group

Collecting Signatures
You can carry on collecting until Friday 30th August, but please make sure you hand your sheets in by Friday at one of the locations below. If you’re in the Portishead area and unable to do this, let me know and we can arrange to pick them up any time.
 
Returning your signature sheets
Completed sheets can be dropped off at any time that these locations are open:
 
SoleLution, High Street
Westcoast Properties (opposite Waitrose garage)
Pure Offices reception, Kestrel Court
Portishead Town Council reception, upstairs at the Folk Hall.
 
Pill Resource centre, 4 Baltic Place, Pill. BS20 0EJ
Portishead Railway Petition, 17 St John’s Rd, Clifton. BS8 2ET
 
Petition details
The petition is formally for ‘persons desiring reopening of the Portishead railway branch line’ – so anyone can sign it and there are no rules about age or location.

The petition states:
‘… Reopening the Portishead branch line is necessary to reduce traffic on the congested roads between Portishead and Bristol; reducing such traffic would lead to lower CO2 emissions, thus benefitting the environment; and is needed to encourage investment and economic growth in Portishead and the greater Bristol area.
 
The petitioners therefore request the House of Commons to urge His Majesty’s Government to recognise the considerable work already performed to reopen the Portishead branch line; to recognise the public funding already invested in it; and to ensure that the necessary central government funding is provided to reopen the Portishead branch line’

 
See also https://bristolrailcampaign.org.uk/portishead-railway-needs-your-support/

 

A budget is nothing other than choices of where to spend the available money. For comparisons sake, from what i can tell, the Restoring Your Railways fund was going to provide significantly less money to the station development than what say bristol council have recently spend on refurbishing the bristol beacon. It's all about the choices made. The relevant local authorities and other organisations can easily decide to spend money on this over other things. It's just priorities.

 

Does a petition actually influence any decision making?
Surely is all comes down to budgets?

 
I have moved this from 'And also 'in order to give it more prominence, as so many people liked it. It refers to what I think Lord Peter Hendy should be doing about the Portishead line.

In that case, he should be arguing the case really vigorously with Reeves and Haigh for a scheme that is 25 years old, runs to 27000 pages and is 7.5km long if each sheet was laid end to end. ....double the length of track in question. I have challenged the Chancellor to join me at 7am on the average weekday morning to travel out of Portishead...perhaps then she might see that this scheme does not deserve to be sacrificed on the altar of her political expediency.
{like} liked by Mark A, Witham Bobby, Richard Fairhurst, rogerw, Western Pathfinder, Timmer, eightonedee, Red Squirrel, johnneyw, PhilWakely, Andy E, TaplowGreen

 
An excellent summary of the current situation.
However the only bus service (X4) connecting Portishead to Bristol now takes 1 hour and 20 minutes even on a good day. Even more evidence, if any were needed, that the railway can't come soon enough. Does everyone know that this town of getting on to 30,000 inhabitants hasn't had any sort of a Post Office for the last 18 months? Another example of over development outstripping infrastructure !

 
Bristol Rail Campaign's call to action is here:

https://bristolrailcampaign.org.uk/portishead-railway-needs-your-support/

 
The fightback begins.....



Dear Member,

The Public Petition supporting funding for the Portishead line is now live and will be presented to Parliament in September by Sadik Al-Hassan, MP for North Somerset.

The petition has to be created in a specific way and there are some changes that you need to know about as a result.

The most important is that the petition must have the original, handwritten signatures, names and addresses of the petitioners (photocopies and electronic signatures are not permitted). This means we need lots of people personally gathering signatures, which PRG will then collate and pass to our MP to take to Parliament.

We are inviting our members to collect as many signatories as they feel able to gather and then return the completed sheets to us. We quite understand if you are unable or unwilling to do this, but will appreciate as much help as we can get. We will also be out on the streets gathering signatures as well, in Pill this Saturday morning and in Portishead on various days. Thank you to all those who've offered to help with this.

There is also a rally at Temple Meads being planned by the Bristol Rail Campaign (formerly FOSBR) at 7pm on Tuesday 27th August. More information on this will follow when we have it.

If you'd like to help by collecting signatures from your circle of friends, family and organisations, here's what you need to know:
You can find the petition and a briefing note explaining it here:  www.portisheadrailwaygroup.org/petition.html
Please print off as many copies as you need, but do not alter the petition form in any way.
If you are unable to print copies, let me know and we'll physically get you some.
The PRG Frequently Asked Questions document has been updated and can be found on the PRG website. This may help with any questions you need answered.
Please check that people only sign once, no matter how often they've seen the petition.
Please collect complete sheets of signatures if possible and minimise half filled sheets by stopping, or working with other PRG members to share and fill whole pages.
The closing date is Sunday 25th August (10 days time!) and you can either return sheets to me by post ASAP or drop-off (8 Little Halt, Portishead. BS20 8JQ) or to any PRG signature collector on Tuesday 27th Aug.
Tuesday August 27th is Petition Day! This will be our main public signature day and we're aiming to cover Portishead High St, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Kestrel Court, Folk Hall etc. We will then head for Bristol to collect more signatures at the Temple Meads rally.
Other public signing days like Pill can happen as well of course.
PRG will then collate all the signature sheets for Sadik Al-Hassan to present to Parliament at the earliest opportunity.
We'll send more details on the Bristol Rail Campaign rally and other public signing events when we have them. Please ask if you have questions.

The petition states:
‘… Reopening the Portishead branch line is necessary to reduce traffic on the congested roads between Portishead and Bristol; reducing such traffic would lead to lower CO2 emissions, thus benefitting the environment; and is needed to encourage investment and economic growth in Portishead and the greater Bristol area.
 
The petitioners therefore request the House of Commons to urge His Majesty’s Government to recognise the considerable work already performed to reopen the Portishead branch line; to recognise the public funding already invested in it; and to ensure that the necessary central government funding is provided to reopen the Portishead branch line’


Thanks for your support.

 

Absolutely no surprises there. Mr Cash, incidentally, lives in Bristol.

 
There is a letter in the North Somerset Times this morning arguing the 'merits' of running buses along the Portishead line signed by the Portishead busway campaign. I suspect this is a one person outfit headed by a certain Barry Cash. I will waste no more time, energy and space giving this any more publicity !

 

I suppose one possible crumb of comfort could be that the government has no reason to string this out any further, nor excuse for doing so. It will be here for at least 5 years, so if a decision is made to finance the building sometime this year, the work should be finished before anyone else will be in office to cancel it again.

RYR had the whiff od a political bone being thrown to distract from other problems. More of a stench now.

 
PRG are seeking clarification on whether 68% or 90% of the budgeted cost of the Portishead line was already covered before RYR came along. Either way, it is clearly mostly non-RYR. But - and this may be a big but - DfT were also committing to cover any over-run. Following the Northumberland Line, this will likely make them nervous.

 

Clearly I was wrong about Portishead and, despite it long predating RYR, it had been wrapped up in the RYR programme.  Fingers crossed the DfT review gives the thumbs up.

 
I have asked Sadik Al-Hassan as to the nature of these assurances ....are they verbal or written ?. I would refer readers to my earlier post where Rachel Reeves confirmed Wellington station is going ahead......much further back and much later in the GRIP process.

 
It is clear that the project is not cancelled, but that's not the same as saying it is funded:

 
Are you able to extract the text of this article, chuffed? We (Bristol Rail Campaign) haven't had such reassurance from Portishead Railway Group, who are working with Sadik Al-Hassan to try to plug the funding gap.

 
The latest edition of Todays Railways (#271) is reporting on Page 7, that 'Labour's new North Somerset MP Sadik Al-Hattari said that he had had it confirmed to him, that the Bristol-Portishead re-opening,part of the Metrowest scheme that predated the Restoring your railways programme, IS SAFE, not least as Network rail is about to submit what seems to be the 493rd update of its business case!

 

Well said, RS!

 
Try this: https://bristolrailcampaign.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Portishead-Radio-Bristol-30_7_24.mp3

 

That didn't work - I was going to do a MP3 clip of the exchange, but couldn't find it before bedtime.

 

Agreed: and it will be interesting to see how 'engaged' North Somerset Council are, bearing in mind their historic reluctance to join WECA and their historic reluctance to fund anything to do with the re-opening of the Portishead Line. 

 

You might find this a better link. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0j935s3

 
I added my two penn'orth on Radio Bristol this morning (this link may change when the show finishes) - scroll to 11:24:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_bristol

 
Re the above, here's Hansard from yesterday:

 
In response to a question from the new Lib Dem MP about Wellington Station,Rachel Reeves said that any project at GRIP stage 4 or above would go ahead. Portishead was there 4 years ago!.I emailed the new Labour Mp for North Somerset about Portishead and he replied within the hour. I think this one single issue will make or break his reputation as an MP.

 
Thanks for your encouraging comment, RichardB.  As you say, Portishead predates - well, almost everything since Beeching. 

 

I agree re Portishead.  We need clarificatiion to be 100% but I don't think Portishead is a "Restoring Your Railway" scheme - it long predates that programme.  I agree re Euston too and I think the line to Crewe will also be built.   We'll see soon enough.

 
Yes - probably 

There are other re-opening station / branch lines which might survive - but only a few.

CfN 

 
Was that just a gut feeling?

 
Hmm. 

In our meeting this morning, I think grahame and I concurred that Portishead is probably not going to happen. 

 
I think Portishead will happen but I think others will end up being chopped.  Same with hs2 to Euston I think that's too far forward not to cut

 

 

Couldn't agree more. All the commentaries on the last budget pointed out that the predicted figures could not all be true at once. This is from the Institute for Government, but note the quote from the OBR:

 
No a good sign for future capital spending on infrastructure.

I'm not convinced by the "it's worse than we thought when we took over" line either.

 
Confirmed.

 
A303 Stonehenge tunnel and the RYR projects yet to be built, I'm hearing

 
The guardian newspaper saying Instead there I'd a alternative way for her to.plug the black hole and raise close to £10 billion her year and that is to increase taxes on wealth and shares etc

 

BBC reports at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c724g07qwdwo

 

I read that too, and hope the rumours are unfounded. Apart from the eons spent getting as far as the project has managed to get so far, it would make absolutely no sense in a period when the economy is supposed to be growing and emissions cut.

 
There are rumours in one of the Murdoch papers today that the Portishead line may get the chop due to Treasury cuts to plug the ‘surprise’ financial hole…

 
I may have missed it during the protracted history of this project but is there a separate Travel Plan document lurking somewhere which specifies whether buses will call at the station and what, if any, facilities for cyclists will be provided?

Also it seems to me that, in common with many recent public buildings, the design is a triumph of form over function (make it look pretty and sod providing proper protection to passengers customers from wind & rain, which I imagine is fairly common in this area).