Tag: Electrification
Tram-trains: Connecting Central Bristol
Bristol Rail Campaign welcomes the news that the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority has received £200 million of funding to develop mass transit for the region. We hope they will recognise that tram-trains could transform Bristol and Bath’s rail network. We strongly believe that a central loop in Bristol could change the existing suburban…
Battery powered trains
Battery powered trains could allow electrification on some parts of the network where overhead 25kV power is hard to achieve. GWR and Network Rail are testing this technology on a branch line near London. They invited us to see the results. The problem Much of GWR’s network is served by old diesel trains which will…
WECA’s Rail Plans
There have been several reports in the press in recent weeks about WECA’s plans to improve rail services around Bristol and Bath. Rail magazine reported on plans to electrify trains between Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads, while Bristol Live ran stories about potential new stations and more frequent services. These reports follow WECA’s approval…
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?
A trip down the Westerleigh Branch
On Saturday 11th September, UK Railtours ran a charter train to some freight lines of interest to FoSBR. Tina, Brendan, Carol & David of FoSBR went along for the ride, joining at Reading. Excursion route The tour “Only Freight Track and Horses” traversed Wiltshire, Bath, Bristol, Gloucestershire then back to London. It was planned to take in…
Electrification through Bath
Electrification of the Great Western Main Line stopped short of Bath. Was this down to the Bath Preservation Trust, or Chris Grayling?
Decarbonisation
Network Rail have published their Interim Programme Business Case for the Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS). The title may appear dull, but the implications are anything but: Although rail contributes less than 1% of the total UK annual greenhouse gas emissions it is in the unique position of currently being the only transport mode capable…
Overcrowded
Train users in our area will have noticed that many services are currently being operated by trains that are older and have fewer cars than usual. Passengers at Keynsham and Oldfield Park have recently been refused permission to board trains because of they were overcrowded. Meanwhile on the Severn Beach Line the usual three-car trains…
Stapleton Road Footbridge
The successful completion of the four-tracking of Filton Bank last December doubled the number of lines between Filton Abbey Wood and Bristol Temple Meads from 2 to 4. At Stapleton Road, footbridge improvements were needed to cross the new fast lines to reach platform 2 (southbound) from east of the station. In May this year…