Objections to Transport & Works Act Orders - BRT 2 – June 2010

Ashton Vale to Temple Meads and Bristol City Rapid Transit order

The Network Rail Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy places an obligation on us to work with and support those organisations involved in developing the proposed "Bristol Metro" network of improved suburban rail services, and it is in this context that our objections should be seen.

Friends Of Suburban Bristol Railways (FOSBR) support “the half hourly clock face services“ proposed in the Rail Vision of the Joint Local Transport Plan of the West of England Partnership (WEP) 2006 - 2011, as indeed do we. The more frequent service on the Severn Beach line, financed by public money, has resulted in a considerable increase in passengers shown in the annual Severnside Community Rail Passenger counts. This should be used as a model for more frequent services creating a local network of cross city services linking Yate, Weston-super-Mare, Bristol Parkway, Bristol Temple Meads, Bath and other local stations.

The extensive and underutilised rail infrastructure

The (WEP) JLTP 2011 – 2026 confirms that ‘rail services in 2008/09 carried almost 41m passengers (long distance and local), a substantial 44% increase over the previous 5 years’. (Rail census by councils).  The JLTP accepts “that rail offers an alternative public transport option for people having access to a local station but is currently constrained by limited network and rolling stock capacity”.

This is inaccurate.  The network is limited by inadequate frequency of service.  Neither Keynsham, Patchway or Parson Street have a 30 minute frequency. The WEP – as a transport authority – should be lobbying with central government to create a viable service.  Having dismissed the rail infrastructure existing within Greater Bristol,  BCC feels confident in introducing the bus rapid transit.

To create the BRT, the Harbour Railway would be taken up and relaid inside the guided busway, and would operate only on Sundays.

       The railway would be removed from the Ashton Swing Bridge.

       Although the route purports to serve Temple Meads, the stop is in fact several hundred yards from the station, across a busy road.

       The plan would establish guided bus as the basis for Bristol’s transport system, making further guided bus routes more likely than any light rail scheme.

       The route could be used for buses from Portishead rather than reopening the Portishead railway line.

For the above reasons, and those put forward by Brendan Biggs on behalf of FOSBR, we ask that the TWA Orders be amended to apply only to a light rail scheme thereby protecting the rail infrastructure and avoiding the need for a public inquiry.

Yours Faithfully
Lee Fletcher
TransWilts Save The Train Campaign