Ashton gate halt and the Portishead rail line (Merged)

[lenred]

2 minutes ago, pillred said:

That will be very optimistic last year the estimate was late 2025 or early 2026.

For Ashley Down?

[pillred]

1 minute ago, lenred said:

For Ashley Down?

No the link from Portishead to Bristol.

[lenred]

1 minute ago, pillred said:

No the link from Portishead to Bristol.

Cool. The initial reply regards Dec 24 was in response to my question about Ashley Down.  

[Simez]

15 hours ago, winsaw said:

The line is still only going to be hourly as that is network rail wish list no money to do all the extra track work needed to allow a half hour service, 

It's not just the need for a loop at Pill, if I remember correctly for when I looked at the proposal a few years back the branch would also need to be doubled from Parson street to around the site of the old Ashton gate station, and putting the slow lines back in between Temple meads and parson at, Bedminster and parson street back to 4 platforms and the Exeter end bay platform back open at temple meads,

On a plus I believe both the new stations are going to be able to hold a new 5 car IET train so that should help with capacity on the line, 

I believe the plan for the west end track/ signal renewals at Temple Meads was to have platform 2 open, platform 13 as a through platform (rather than the dead end it is) and the down relief line to Parson Street. I’ve heard though that none of it will happen due to cost and it’s just going to be a like for like renewal (which is a great shame). 

[Monkeh]

19 hours ago, TonyTonyTony said:

Just wish they would crack on with it now. 

We are "cracking" on with it, and have been for 18 months, just because you can't see it doesn't mean work isn't happening

[Slippin cider]

13 hours ago, pillred said:

That will be very optimistic last year the estimate was 2026 due to a £35 million increase in costs. I think even that is slightly optimistic though preparatory work is going on around pill.

Ah no , I was referring to Ashley Hill sorry , wires crossed .

[winsaw]

On 06/06/2023 at 07:15, TomF said:

Platform 2 would make perfect terminus for Portishead line like 1 does for the SB line.   I can’t remember when that was last in use, gotta be many decades ago. 

Last used by the Glasgow to Plymouth sleeper train used to drop motorrail wagons there must have ended around 1995, no passinger train in there since 

[Monkeh]

15 hours ago, winsaw said:

Last used by the Glasgow to Plymouth sleeper train used to drop motorrail wagons there must have ended around 1995, no passinger train in there since 

I dont think platform 2 will come back into use at temple meads, its used for training these days,

 

[Dr Balls]

5 hours ago, Monkeh said:

I dont think platform 2 will come back into use at temple meads, its used for training these days,

 

I thought the whole point was that the trains from Portishead would be through trains up to Henbury. One of the benefits of returning the route from Temple Meads to Filton to 4 tracks was allowing for more regular local trains stopping at Lawrence Hill, Stapleton Road and Ashley Down without affecting the quicker through trains to Cardiff and Parkway. Now if only they could electrify the tracks around Bristol… (not holding my breath on that one!)

[Monkeh]

35 minutes ago, Dr Balls said:

I thought the whole point was that the trains from Portishead would be through trains up to Henbury. One of the benefits of returning the route from Temple Meads to Filton to 4 tracks was allowing for more regular local trains stopping at Lawrence Hill, Stapleton Road and Ashley Down without affecting the quicker through trains to Cardiff and Parkway. Now if only they could electrify the tracks around Bristol… (not holding my breath on that one!)

Platform 2 at temple meads is a bay platform not a through platform,

[Dr Balls]

3 hours ago, Monkeh said:

Platform 2 at temple meads is a bay platform not a through platform,

I know. That’s why I didn’t think that it would be used by a through service from Portishead.

[Never to the dark side]

This could hope for an Ashton gate train station

 

 

 

 

"It will play an important role in the wider regeneration area" says development boss as the ground is now ready for 220 new flats
The new 'City Gateway' development on the old Ashton Rail Yard will see 220 new homes built next to the Brunel Way flyover
The new 'City Gateway' development on the old Ashton Rail Yard will see 220 new homes built next to the Brunel Way flyover (Image: Countryside Partnerships)
Work to build 220 new flats on a prominent ‘gateway’ site on the edge of Bristol is finally due to get underway next month, more than two years after developers were given permission.
The former Ashton Rail Yard site lies next to the Brunel Way dual carriageway flyover, just south of the Cumberland Basin, and was a left empty and vacant for years during the 2010s, before it was sold off by Homes England to developers.
The site was cleared of its buildings, levelled and all the hardstanding taken up after councillors awarded developers Countryside Partnerships planning permission in April 2021, but no new homes have been built since. The developers involved said the site would 'play an important role' in the future development of the wider 'Western Harbour' project to build potentially thousands of new homes around the Cumberland Basin.
Read next: The 7,300 new homes being built in one packed corner of Bristol
Now, Countryside Partnerships have explained the delays and said the work to begin building the flats will start in the autumn. Of the 220 new homes, 98 are going to be classed as 'affordable', and rented through housing association Clarion.
In March last year, Clarion announced it had signed a deal with Countryside Partnerships' parent company Vistry to take on the affordable element in a £17.1m contract. Of the 98 'affordable' homes, 62 will be on HomeChoice at 'social rent' levels - the lowest rent, and 36 would be available to buy under a shared ownership scheme with the housing association.
Clarion's group director Richard Cook said they were able to increase the number of affordable homes above the 30 per cent council policy requirement, through their own investment. “We are delighted to be working with Vistry to breathe new life into this brownfield site and deliver vital affordable homes on the edge of Bristol," he said at the time. “We are committed to providing the right homes in the right places, and this partnership will give local people an increased number of affordable housing options in a city fast becoming out of reach for too many.”
The new 'City Gateway' development on the old Ashton Rail Yard will see 220 new homes built next to the Brunel Way flyover
The new 'City Gateway' development on the old Ashton Rail Yard will see 220 new homes built next to the Brunel Way flyover (Image: Countryside Partnerships)
Vistry Partnerships West's managing director Marc Thompson said the development of the Ashton Rail Yard site would 'play an important role in the wider Western Harbour regeneration area'. “We’re very pleased that by working with Clarion, Bristol City Council and Homes England we have been able to increase the number of affordable homes we’re providing at City Gateway," he said last year.
“We’re turning this former industrial, brownfield site into a high-quality new place to live, with a significant number of affordable homes for Bristolians. Once complete, it will play an important role in the wider Western Harbour regeneration area," he added.
The development has been years in the making. After more than a decade of inaction at the old railway sidings site that for years had been a stonemasons yard, Travellers moved onto the land to squat it in late 2018, in protest at the lack of homes being built there, criticising the Government’s housing and land agency for dragging its feet while Bristol began to be in the grip of a housing crisis.
Eventually, a deal was done with Countryside Partnerships to build flats on the site. Originally, almost 300 new flats were proposed, with buildings up to nine storeys high, but over the course of 2020 and 2021, these were amended in the face of opposition, down to 220 new homes in nine apartment blocks up to five storeys high.
The nine-storey plan was criticised by Historic England, who complained the buildings would get in the way of an important and historic view of the listed St Mary Redcliffe church spire from the front lawn of the Ashton Court Mansion, and the development was then scaled back from nine to five storeys.
In the end, the plan for 220 homes was approved, with half of them being classed as ‘affordable’ under planning terms. Access to the site, which is currently via a narrow bridge over the Portishead railway line alongside Bedminster Cricket Club, was also an issue the developers had to overcome, and they have created a new access road which crosses the Metrobus track from Paxton Drive.
The new 'City Gateway' development on the old Ashton Rail Yard will see 220 new homes built next to the Brunel Way flyover
The new 'City Gateway' development on the old Ashton Rail Yard will see 220 new homes built next to the Brunel Way flyover (Image: Countryside Partnerships)
That meant the construction of a retaining wall almost five metres high by the Phi Group as the new access road curves around the Paxton Drive flats, in work which was completed a couple of months ago
The development site has been renamed as ‘City Gateway’, reflecting its prominent position next to the Brunel Way A370 main road between Ashton Gate and Hotwells at the south west entrance to the city. The site is also right next to Festival Way, the main pedestrian and cycle route from Ashton Court to the rest of the city, and will be familiar to anyone who has walked to or from the estate for the Bristol Balloon Fiesta.
Work had been delayed because of the challenge of decontaminating an area that had been heavily industrial for almost 100 years, but should now start soon, a spokesperson for Countryside Partnerships said. "Over the last 18 months, works have been underway on this heavily contaminated brownfield site,” they explained.
“The site has now been fully remediated and the deep drainage and access works have been completed. Groundworks for the residential properties will commence in the autumn,” they added.
As well as the 220 new homes, the developers will also be contributing £729,567 in Community Infrastructure Levy to Bristol City Council. The 220 new homes are among more than 2,300 which are currently being built in the BS3 postcode area from Ashton Gate to Bedminster.

 

[Never to the dark side]

Maybe we COULD have TWO stations in the area?

[exAtyeoMax]

7 hours ago, TomF said:

Except the plan for a new Ashton gate station is proposed much further up the line towards Sainsburys.  Better off opening Ashton Bridge station imo. 

Where’s that to?

Edited August 9, 2023 by exAtyeoMax

[Never to the dark side]

They would both be on the same line.

[Port Said Red]

As an aside, at the other end of the line it looks like work is going to start for the preparation of the new Portishead station. Lots of markings around drain covers that suggest that they are being relocated.

[archie andrews]

2 hours ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Where’s that to?

Its a bridge in ashton..... 

[exAtyeoMax]

10 minutes ago, archie andrews said:

Its a bridge in ashton..... 

where is it in relation to Ashton Gate?

[italian dave]

4 hours ago, Never to the dark side said:

Maybe we COULD have TWO stations in the area?

Let’s not get over-ambitious! We’re quite some way from getting one at the moment! 

[bcfc01]

1 hour ago, exAtyeoMax said:

where is it in relation to Ashton Gate?

Ashton Bridge is the pedestrian bridge next to the old tobacco factories on Cumberland basin.

Not sure if its used by buses these days, not been there for ages.

Edited August 9, 2023 by bcfc01

[myol'man]

23 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Ashton Bridge is the pedestrian bridge next to the old tobacco factories on Cumberland basin.

Not sure if its used by buses these days, not been there for ages.

Yes, it was refurbished for the metro bus line. Cycle lane and pedestrian walkways created. best way to get to the Nova from Ashton Gate.

There is an Ashton Gate metro bus stop just behind the developement where the bowling alley used to be, but they don't encourage any football passengers to use it.

[bcfc01]

3 minutes ago, myol'man said:

Yes, it was refurbished for the metro bus line. Cycle lane and pedestrian walkways created. best way to get to the Nova from Ashton Gate.

There is an Ashton Gate metro bus stop just behind the developement where the bowling alley used to be, but they don't encourage any football passengers to use it.

Thanks.

I've been avoiding that area for years due to the constant road works, road closures etc.

 

[Never to the dark side]

Womans world cup 2025 coming to Ashton Gate from 22nd August.

Now is the time to strike and get the new station built at Ashton Gate,if not then a step free access for Parson Street.

[Never to the dark side]

Dan Norris the metro Mayor will be on radio bristol conducting Q and A from 10:00am today(monday 11th  september)

Maybe some one could ring up and ask the state of play for the step free access for Parson Street.

[winsaw]

Not good news about this new line, they have now decided they need to do a new business case to see if the line will pay if re opened as the previous one was done before covid so they want to see if it's now changed,

They hope to have the new full business case submitted by march 2024 with hopefully approval of this by summer 2024 September at the latest ,

So we are now potentially a year away from them starting the building work on the new line, 

[Never to the dark side]

We live in hope

[Port Said Red]

4 hours ago, winsaw said:

Not good news about this new line, they have now decided they need to do a new business case to see if the line will pay if re opened as the previous one was done before covid so they want to see if it's now changed,

They hope to have the new full business case submitted by march 2024 with hopefully approval of this by summer 2024 September at the latest ,

So we are now potentially a year away from them starting the building work on the new line, 

Hopefully they will look at how popular the bus service is currently, especially at the discounted £2 fare. 

We went into Bristol on Saturday and the bus was almost as busy as the AG1 P&R, in both directions. It's very popular midweek, even off peak too so it shows there is a market for public transport if it is well priced, regular and reliable.

[italian dave]

5 hours ago, Never to the dark side said:

We live in hope

After 25 years, more hope than expectation, that’s for sure! 

[Slippin cider]

14 hours ago, winsaw said:

Not good news about this new line, they have now decided they need to do a new business case to see if the line will pay if re opened as the previous one was done before covid so they want to see if it's now changed,

They hope to have the new full business case submitted by march 2024 with hopefully approval of this by summer 2024 September at the latest ,

So we are now potentially a year away from them starting the building work on the new line, 

JUST GET ON WITH IT FFS!!!!!! 

[Bas's perfect hattrick]

There's literally billions to spunk on buying land for HS2 and then changing their minds and flogging it off again, but they can't find a few million for a hugely popular local line....