Metro
service in South Bristol, in Bedminster could be done instantly by asking First Great Western to stop the Taunton to Cardiff train. Other parts of the Metro upgrade have slipped back in the expected timetable of development, including the Portishead re-opening which has now been delayed by about a year, and various improvements to the Severn Beach line which are running six months late.
A long time coming
Street mirroring the work at Filton Bank is therefore partly to do with avoiding delays and partly to do with increasing capacity on the Metro as a whole in the future. That’s really important, because if they four-track everything in one go now, it will be much cheaper.
This issue becomes even more important given the plans to re-open the Portishead Branch, as once it is re-opened it would immediately put capacity at near maximum and therefore not allow for future growth. Also, the four-tracking at
Parsons Street could be a lot cheaper, at £2-£3 million, than the £50 million price tag for the work at Filton Bank. This is because the infrastructure at Filton Bank is more complex, consisting of bridges, embankments, track for faster trains and more sophisticated signalling alongside the work carried out on the line. Some of the improvements to the Bristol Metro could be implemented sooner rather than later because they would actually cost no money to deliver. For instance, getting the half hour
A lot of the funding for the Metro upgrade is coming from the Bristol City Deal, the funding package allocated to Bristol by central government in return for improvements in local services. Some money may be provided by the Department for Transport as well but the City Deal funding has already been signed off by the West of England Partnership constituent councils. It’s all in the bag, but the issue at the moment is legality. When work is done in North Somerset, such as the Portishead re-opening, North Somerset Council controls the project, however when it moves into Bristol, then Bristol City Council controls the project. The Portishead line is of major political importance because it’s had a louder political voice and for longer.
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Feature written by Robin Whitlock. Mike Wheeler and Daniel Casey are co-directors of Bristol-based consultancy South West Transport Development
December 2013 Page 85
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