Category: Our Plan for Rail
Cam & Dursley station – still an hourly service
Cam & Dursley station missed out on a service upgrade as part of the new (from May 2023) half-hourly Gloucester-Bristol Temple Meads service. The service remains hourly as every other train runs through stopping only at Yate, Bristol Parkway and Filton Abbey Wood. Passengers and community leaders around Cam & Dursley station are disappointed they…
How could Severn Beach Line capacity be improved?
FoSBR support a higher frequency passenger service on the Severn Beach Line. How could capacity be improved?
Ashley Down station reopening work starts!
Network Rail contractors BAM Nuttall started work on the site of the new Ashley Down train station at the end of February 2023. WECA hope that the new station will be completed in summer 2024. Valuable extra transport link West of England Mayor Dan Norris and Bristol City Council Cabinet Member for Transport Don Alexander…
Portishead DCO Granted
On the 14th November 2022, the Secretary of State for Transport granted development consent to North Somerset Council’s application to restore passenger rail services to Portishead and Pill. As the explanatory note to the full Development Consent Order (DCO) explains: This Order authorises North Somerset District Council to construct a new railway on the formation…
MetroWest: slow progress
In FoSBR’s Autumn 2022 newsletter , FoSBR member John Walker wrote a “Tale of two metros” comparing the Devon Metro with the Bristol area’s MetroWest project. He made the point that the Devon Metro has raced ahead, whilst MetroWest plods forward making slow progress. MetroWest continues to plod, and since September there have been updates…
Ocean Jubilee Bridge
The new Ocean Jubilee rail bridge was officially opened in May 2022. This replaced the bridge over the Stroudwater Navigation Canal in Stonehouse. It is part of a project to allow Stroud to be re-connected to the national canal network. This bridge is on the main Bristol-Gloucester line near Stonehouse. It crosses the canal south…
Funding agreed for Portishead Railway
On Friday 29th July the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) voted to allocate an additional £10m funding for MetroWest Phase 1 (Portishead Line). This money, from the Investment and Transforming Cities Fund, will bridge the latest funding gap and allow the project to proceed. Escalating costs Projected capital costs for the re-opening of the…
Portishead Railway: Just do it!
Councillors, residents and campaigners came to a FoSBR event to push home the message: Portishead Railway – Just do it!
Interchange between buses and trains
FoSBR staged an event on Saturday April 2nd to draw attention to the poor nature of interchange between buses and trains, and looked at what should be done to improve this. Campaigners came armed with maps, signs, information about routes and a homemade “display screen” of bus and train timetables for the bus stops and…
Brabazon development
YTL, developers of the new Arena in North Filton, have big plans for the Brabazon development. A new train station will play a critical role.