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Bristol Mass Transit system


WarksRobin

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Article in the New Civil Engineer today. Keep an eye out for consultation events where we can demand a stop at Ashton Gate.

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees has laid out his envisaged timeline for the development of the city’s mass transit system, promising “shovels in the ground” by 2029-2030.

Rees was speaking at this week’s city Bristol City Council cabinet meeting where counsellors formally received West of England Combined Authority’s (WECA) £191M grant from the government’s City Regions Sustainable Transport, which is to be spread over the next five years.

Last year WECA revealed that it had already invested £1.5M to explore ideas for a £4bn underground and overground rail network. The proposal included four routes that would connect the city centre with Bristol Airport, Cribbs Causeway, Emersons Green and the A4 corridor towards Bath, with various stops in the middle.

At the meeting, Rees explained the timeline for how this could be brought to fruition.

An early consultation on 19 different options for mass transit will go out shortly, with Rees saying they are ready even though they have already been delayed. He continued: “If we get a move on with that, by September we can start the work on the strategic outline business case – £7M has been allocated to that.”

The next step, according to Rees, will see the commission of the outline business case by mid-2023, with £10M allocated in the combined authority to fund it. “If we can get as much political agreement as possible then that process will move all the quicker,” he added.

 

Rees hopes to then have the outline business case by 2024-25. Referring back to the 19 options currently mooted, he said: “the speed of [receiving the outline business case] will also depend on how successful the strategic outline business case is in narrowing down the options.”

Continuing, he said: “Then by 2026-27 we can be with the full business case – again that depends on how successful the previous processes are – and then by 2029-30 we could be digging holes, have shovels in the ground for the mass transit system.”

Rees expressed his frustration that these actions had not been taken previously. He has confirmed that he will not run for a third term, so the work will be carried forward by future city leaders whoever becomes mayor in 2024.

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1 hour ago, tin said:

Pipe dream from that clown, Rees. Bristol is at or slightly above sea level and with sea levels set to rise due to climate change, building an underground is madness IMO. 

Better not use the tube to cross under the Thames or Eurostar under the channel, then!

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33 minutes ago, WarksRobin said:

Better not use the tube to cross under the Thames or Eurostar under the channel, then!

You miss my point. I’m not saying don’t use those; I’m saying I wouldn’t be committing billions of taxpayers’ cash on a crackpot scheme like this. 

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1 hour ago, Slippin cider said:

The man is a buffoon and will be long gone by then hopefully……can’t even sort out the rail system that’s already there (Portishead line) let alone anything else ….CLOWN 

 

I was under the impression that GWR runs the area's franchise and Network Rail runs the infrastructure and the vast majority of that line runs through North Somerset Council's area and its re-opening is being piloted by the West of England Combined Authority.  I also thought the recent delays were caused by environmental groups protesting about impact which led the government to put granting of consent on hold for 6 months. 

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23 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

I was under the impression that GWR runs the area's franchise and Network Rail runs the infrastructure and the vast majority of that line runs through North Somerset Council's area and its re-opening is being piloted by the West of England Combined Authority.  I also thought the recent delays were caused by environmental groups protesting about impact which led the government to put granting of consent on hold for 6 months. 

That’s as maybe , he’s still a buffoon! Wasting thousands on his hair brained schemes ….GW run their franchise….for now ….until GBR is up and running within 18 months - 2 years ….NR run the infrastructure as a gov owned body and are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike also wasting thousands if not millions each year ….other places in the UK have excellent tram systems and lines that have reopened years after being closed to again serve their communities. We have none of that and are never likely to have which is a shame especially when a lot of the infrastructure is already there and just needs updating . In short , if it’s been delayed, which it has , it’ll never happen . Although the Filton 4 tracking happened eventually so I may well be wrong . 

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18 hours ago, Slippin cider said:

That’s as maybe , he’s still a buffoon! Wasting thousands on his hair brained schemes ….GW run their franchise….for now ….until GBR is up and running within 18 months - 2 years ….NR run the infrastructure as a gov owned body and are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike also wasting thousands if not millions each year ….other places in the UK have excellent tram systems and lines that have reopened years after being closed to again serve their communities. We have none of that and are never likely to have which is a shame especially when a lot of the infrastructure is already there and just needs updating . In short , if it’s been delayed, which it has , it’ll never happen . Although the Filton 4 tracking happened eventually so I may well be wrong . 

 

He may be a buffoon, but I don't think we can blame him for the shit way the government privatised the railways, the shit way major planning applications are dealt with and can be almost indefinitely delayed or the actions of North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils.

Part of the problem I think is that Bristol is defined as a wealthy city, so it gets less cash for these sort of projects than other cities Oop North or in Wales etc. 

I'd quite like to see the argument that suggests a Newcastle-style underground is the way to go, rather than a tram system like Manchester or a light-railway network like Leeds. 

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4 minutes ago, TomF said:

The Portishead DCO is nothing to do with Marvin to be fair. It’s a metrowest project with NSC being the applicant. 
 

The reason it’s not going anywhere is the Tories have decided to completely stop funding rail developments since Covid. Grant Shapps has already kicked it into the bushes once and he’s got a week or so left to make a decision on it or extend it yet again.   Personally despite all the work NSC have done (and nearly £25m spent already) I feel it’s going to fall at the final hurdle thanks to the pricks in charge at Westminster. 
 

I’ll be very happy to be proved wrong on the 19/4 when the decision must be made by! 

It’ll be turned into a cycle path and another huge opportunity will be missed 

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On 10/04/2022 at 12:40, Red-Robbo said:

 

He may be a buffoon, but I don't think we can blame him for the shit way the government privatised the railways, the shit way major planning applications are dealt with and can be almost indefinitely delayed or the actions of North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils.

Part of the problem I think is that Bristol is defined as a wealthy city, so it gets less cash for these sort of projects than other cities Oop North or in Wales etc. 

I'd quite like to see the argument that suggests a Newcastle-style underground is the way to go, rather than a tram system like Manchester or a light-railway network like Leeds. 

The Newcastle metro system is fantastic, clean  cheap and regular. Wouldn't call it an underground though. Something like that is a pipe dream for bristol

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1 hour ago, frenchred said:

The Newcastle metro system is fantastic, clean  cheap and regular. Wouldn't call it an underground though. Something like that is a pipe dream for bristol

 

Parts are overground and parts are underground, most of the Newcastle city centre travel is within tunnels.  Which is actually the case with nearly all London Underground lines as well. 

I'd guess this would be the template for any Bristol service, but until we see any detailed plans, we wont know. I, personally, can't see the finance being there for this sort of thing nowadays. 

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On 12/04/2022 at 14:00, Vespa Red said:

Quick question for the dissenters on here: do you go to places like Sheffield, Nottingham, the West Midlands or to similar sized cities in Europe and wish that Bristol had a similar integrated transport system?

Personally I think it's a great idea. A properly thought out cycle network would be great too. However, this is a political fantasy that has been around for decades. Either break ground or don't, just stop talking about it. Do or do not. That's what is annoying.

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In 2000 I moved with my job to a city in South West France, like Bristol all they had was a really poor bus service! However they took the plunge to build a metro (underground) system, just one line, it caused tremendous roadworks inbthe building of the station s and laying the tracks, however they persevered with it. Later they added a second line and even more success, by 2015 they had cometed a fully integrated transport system consisting of two underground lines, a full tram network working alongside the buses. Its a huge success and took (only) 15 years.

It can be done but I'm not sure Bristol hasbthe leadership to make it happen

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1 hour ago, frenchred said:

In 2000 I moved with my job to a city in South West France, like Bristol all they had was a really poor bus service! However they took the plunge to build a metro (underground) system, just one line, it caused tremendous roadworks inbthe building of the station s and laying the tracks, however they persevered with it. Later they added a second line and even more success, by 2015 they had cometed a fully integrated transport system consisting of two underground lines, a full tram network working alongside the buses. Its a huge success and took (only) 15 years.

It can be done but I'm not sure Bristol hasbthe leadership to make it happen

I assume you are referring to La Ville Rose, a lovely city.

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Not sure the region has the collective political will to see through a costly, long term project; even one that would deliver the best outcomes. The various leaders are now arguing over where WECA should be based.  
 

An underground, even if only partially underground would potentially be a game changer as it would avoid the very problems causing the congestion in Bristol (assuming it would be segregated). 
 

 

 

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47 minutes ago, TomF said:

So Grant Shapps having needlessly delayed the decision by 6 months and causing an increase in costs now delays it 12 months to understand the increases in cost.

******* Tory ***** 

He’s delayed every big decision: Stonehenge tunnel, Lower Thames Crossing, Smart Motorways. Indecisive.

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13 hours ago, CyderInACan said:

Should have gone for ATA when they had the chance in the 90s (?) 

 

12 hours ago, TomF said:

Possibly late 80s. Remember seeing plans in school library around 91

Try 1979, when I recall first reading about Advanced Transport For Avon and their exciting plans for our future.

City were plying their trade in the top flight and we all looked forward to the huge concert arena that was destined to be built alongside our state-of-the-art tram system pretty darn soon.

Can't really see what can go wrong to be honest.

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2 hours ago, Ska Junkie said:

Why we can't just build a tram system like Sheffield or Manchester, using the cycle paths / old railway lines with strategic additions is beyond me.

It must be because it's cheaper and actually works!!

Because if they put it on the cycle path for example, the cycle lobby would have a meltdown - which happened the last time the Bristol to Bath rail/cycle path was suggested (90s?) for example.

 

Fun fact, Avon Valley Railway was intending to extend the track all the way to Bath and run services. Unfortunately, due to our laughable rail structure, they would have had to open it up for rival franchises, which made it unviable. 

 

 

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