Don't Give up on Redland, Train Users Urge Council

By Al_Shaw | Saturday, February 20, 2010, 11:25

Local rail users are lobbying the City Council this week to urge

redland station in the snow

them to resist making cuts to the frequency of trains on Bristol's main

suburban rail line, which runs from Temple Meads to Severn Beach via

Redland.

In May 2008, the Council put up money to run an

additional train each hour on the line, resulting in large increases in users at Redland Station. Julie Boston of Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways claims that average weekday passenger numbers at Redland

Station have leaped from 264 to 635 since the extra trains were

introduced. As the Council reviews its budgetary commitments, the

Friends are urging them to protect these improved services.

"Since

May 2008 our train service has been more frequent and reliable because

Bristol City Council has paid for a second train between Temple Meads

and Avonmouth Stations. The Council is reviewing its budget so if we

want this better service to continue we need to make the case for it!"

The

passenger group wants the Council to go further in their commitment to

the train line by including the track's subsidy in its Medium Term

Financial Plan and by planning for costs and resources up to 2014.

Statistics

from Severnside Rail show that over half a million journeys were made

on the Severn Beach Line during 2008.

"The Bristol Temple

Meads to Avonmouth and Severn Beach train is one of Bristol’s hidden

gems," says Julie. "It’s green, it’s clean and far more reliable since there has been a

commitment to a second train on the line."

The lobby of the

Council will take place on Tuesday 23 February at the Council House on

College Green at 1.30 pm.

Do you use the Severn Beach Line? Have you started doing so recently? What effect would a reduced timetable have on you?

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Comments

I'm actually a member of FoSBR myself and fully support the general thrust of what they want to achieve, but sometimes I do get a little baffled by how they operate!

By Neil3296 at 09:44 on 23/02/10
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Thanks for the update Neil.

Anyone from FOSBR want to comment here?

By Al_Shaw at 09:38 on 23/02/10
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Al - this is a red herring story! There is no danger of the 2010/11 support for the Severn Beach Line being withdrawn at next week's Council meeting. There is no budget amendment submitted to do so, so it is simply impossible. I have tried to explain this to FoSBR, but either they are not understanding or they are trying to drum up some sort of party political furore. The Medium Term Financial Plan will not be discussed until the 25th March meeting of Cabinet and there are no plans to remove it from there either!

I and many of my councillor colleagues are users of the Severn Beach Line and we don't need convincing of the value of it and of the more frequent service - I use it much more for business trips now as it fits with Temple Meads trains much better. The real challenge is to convince First Great Western to invest in it properly, like by fitting ticket machines at stations or employing more fare collectors.

Councillor Neil Harrison, Cotham Ward

By Neil3296 at 20:50 on 20/02/10
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