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DERAILED

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10:40 - 17 February 2007

Many rail users may be unhappy
with the service but in Portishead locals are
complaining there is no service at all, writes
Suzanne Savill

Near the Waitrose supermarket in
Portishead is a car park with spaces for about 40
cars. About 100 yards away, covered in so much
undergrowth that they are barely visible, are
railway tracks.

This is the place where
campaigners believe a station can be built for
Portishead - the North Somerset town that is one
of the fastest growing in Europe, yet which only
has one main road going in and
out.

"Everyone we talk to wants the line to
be reopened," says Alan Matthews, chairman of the
Portishead Railway Group.

"Unfortunately,
nobody locally seems to have the authority to make
a decision, and nobody seems to be able to take
overall responsibility. Rail is controlled by
central government.

"It all comes down to
how much it will cost, and who's going to pay for
it. The big issue is the possibility of losses.
There's a perception among local authorities that
local rail services require subsidies.

"But
we're confident that a train service linking
Portishead with Bristol would be full for two
trips in the morning and two in the evening, so
the service shouldn't require a huge subsidy, and
very possibly none at all. We're working on
determining these costs."

Much of the
infrastructure for a railway between Portishead
and Bristol is already in place. In addition to
the area set aside by the council for a station,
and the adjacent car park built by developers
Crest Nicholson as part of Port Marine, there is
also recently-laid track just over three miles
away from the overgrown tracks near
Waitrose.

The new tracks were laid between
Portbury Docks and Bristol in 2002 at a cost of
£21 million, and freight trains can regularly be
seen making their way backwards and
forwards.

The tracks could also be used for
passenger trains, but until that happens, the only
way in and out of Portishead will be the present
tortuous crawl along the Portbury
Hundred.

The Portishead Railway Group
argues that if the remaining 3.25 miles of railway
between Portbury Docks and Portishead were relaid,
the resulting rail link between the town and
Temple Meads station would attract a considerable
number of passengers.

One of the main
reasons for this is Portishead's position at the
end of the A369 - a location described by local MP
Dr Liam Fox in the House of Commons in 2005 as
being "probably the most over-crowded cul-de-sac
in Britain".

Alan explains: "The key
difference is that people living near stations
like Shirehampton and Redland have a choice of
ways of getting into central Bristol. For people
living in Portishead, the only viable option at
present is to travel by car for about an hour.
Many commuters would be delighted to be able to
spend 30 minutes travelling by train
instead."

Alan, a construction planner, is
not a Portishead resident but lives on the other
side of Bristol at Longwell Green. He was chairman
of the Avon Valley Steam Railway for 17 years, and
because of his extensive experience was voted in
as chairman of Portishead Railway Group following
the merger in 2005 of the Portishead Railway
Action Group and Portishead Railway Heritage
Group.

He points out that because of the
large number of new housing developments in
Portishead, the population is expected to rise to
over 28,000 in coming years - making it the
largest town in the country without a rail
link.

"Getting 200 people off the road and
on to a train would help reduce traffic congestion
on local roads in Portishead, and would also
result in a significant reduction in C02
emissions.

"The benefits would extend
beyond Portishead, as the route would also pass
through Portbury, Pill, Bedminster, Parson Street
and Temple Meads, from where it could link to the
Severn Beach Line and share the same rolling
stock.

"There could also be the possibility
of having more extensive parking facilities at
Portbury, by Junction 19 of the M5, to encourage
more people to park and take the train into
Bristol."

The key date in achieving a rail
link for Portishead could be 2011, when extensive
re-signalling work and track-laying will be taking
place at Temple Meads to enable extra trains to
come through the station.

"It's going to be
a long push to 2011, but we've got to keep
chipping away," says Alan.

"Otherwise even
though Bristol's travel problems may seem bad now,
they'll be infinitely worse in the
future."

For more information on Portishead Railway
Group, go to http://www.portisheadrailwaygroup.org/

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