Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FOSBR) is a Bristol-based campaign group, calling for better rail transport in the Bristol area.

Formation

FOSBR was formed in 1995 as Friends of Severn Beach Railway, to protest against the potential demise of the Severn Beach Line, a single-track branch line in Bristol. Services at the time had been reduced along the line from Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach, with many services replaced by buses. The first FOSBR action was on 25 September 1995, when a group of protestors met at Avonmouth railway station with buggies and bicycles, to show that buses were not a suitable replacement for trains.[1] The group later changed its name to Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways, allowing it to keep the FOSBR acronym.

Campaigns

Severn Beach Line

Two Severn Beach Line trains pass at Clifton Down. FOSBR successfully campaigned for an improved service on this line.
File:FOSBR at Clifton Down 1.jpg
FOSBR members campaigning at Clifton Down.

FOSBR's first campaign was to get a better service on the Severn Beach Line, an important Bristol commuter line connecting Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach and Avonmouth via Clifton. The line had few services, no service at all on Sundays, and very few trains travelled the entire length of the line to Severn Beach. Following action by FOSBR and a string of protests, Bristol City Council agreed to subsidise a service of at least one train every 45mins in each direction along the line. This continued until 2007 when a 1-hour minimum service was written into the Greater Western passenger franchise. In 2007, the Council unanimously agreed to pay £450,000 per year to fund extra services from May 2008 for three years, which resulted in a 60% increase in passenger numbers along the line,[1][2] and a 25% year-on-year increase between June 2009 and June 2010.[3] Passenger numbers on the line increased by 90% over the period 2008–11, and 25% in the period 2010–11. The Council cut the subsidy paid by half, saying the extra passengers were allowing the line to support itself,[4][5] which prompted criticism by FOSBR, saying the money should be used to provide evening trains and through services to Bedminster and Parson Street.[6]

Services along the line run at roughly three trains every two hours between Avonmouth and Temple Meads, with one extending to Severn Beach.[7][8] FOSBR has started campaigning for a half-hourly service, however this will require significant infrastructure work[9] – there are only three sections of the line which are double track (Avonmouth, Clifton Down, and the section where services run on the main line Cross Country Route between Narroways Junction and Temple Meads),[10] and this limits the number of trains which can be run.

FOSBR also campaigned for a Sunday service between Severn Beach and Weston-super-Mare,[11] the success of which was celebrated with a picnic.[2] There are two services each Sunday – both terminate at Severn Beach during the summer, but one terminates at Avonmouth outside of summer.[7][8]

FOSBR support the opening of a station to serve the A4 Portway Park & Ride scheme in Shirehampton.[12] They argue that buses often have to deal with heavy traffic on the A4 Portway to reach the city centre, and that a rail link would be quicker and greener.[13]

FOSBR have also suggested the Severn Beach Line be electrified as part of the electrification of the Great Western Main Line. They are supported in this by Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West.[14]

Henbury Loop

FOSBR are campaigning for the Henbury Loop Line, a freight line in the north of Bristol which has not seen passenger traffic since the 1960s.[1][12][15][16] This would include the reopening of Henbury and North Filton railway stations, both of which closed to passengers in 1964.[15][17][18] FOSBR suggest this would help services along the Severn Beach Line, allowing a Temple Meads-Avonmouth-Bristol Parkway service, and also provide services to the north of Bristol generally, the Cribbs Causeway shopping centre,[19] and the redevelopment at Filton Aerodrome. FOSBR say that local councils have committed to a feasibility study into reopening the line.[19]

Filton Bank

FOSBR support the four-tracking of Filton Bank. Here a CrossCountry service heads south along Filton Bank.

The line between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway, commonly known as Filton Bank, is mainly double track, but due to the number of services which use it, is frequently congested. The line used to be four-track, but the number of running lines was reduced during the 60s and 70s as a cost-saving measure. FOSBR support the four-tracking of the line, known as the Filton Bank, and continuing the four-tracking to Parson Street and the junction with the Portishead Line.[1][20][21] The line between Temple Meads and Parson Street is mostly three track, with the down relief line disused to Bedminster and taken up beyond. The up relief line is in use between Bedminster and Parson Street, but at Parson Street is only accessible by trains from the Portishead Line.

It was announced in July 2012 that Filton Bank will be four-tracked.[22] It will also be electrified as part of the Great Western Main Line electrification scheme.[23]

Electrification to Weston-super-Mare

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

See also: 21st Century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line

The Great Western Main Line, the major railway between London and Bristol, is due for electrification as part of a major upgrade scheme taking place in the next few years. The entire line between London Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central is due to be electrified by 2017, as is the line between Temple Meads and Parkway.[23][24][25][26] However, FOSBR are concerned that since the new electric Intercity Express Programme (IEP) trains will not be able to operate beyond Bristol,[27] direct services between London and Weston-super-Mare will be discontinued. FOSBR therefore support the extension of electrification to Weston-super-Mare, and of the Severn Beach Line, to provide passengers with "better, more reliable services".[14][28]

FOSBR also supported the building of the Filton Triangle depot, Stoke Gifford for Intercity Express Trains, against local opposition. 550 local residents signed a petition against the depot, citing light, noise and water pollution concerns. FOSBR released a joint statement with Daniel Casey of the Green Party and Dave Wood of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, saying that the residents' concerns were unfounded, noting several methods of noise/light/water pollution prevention that would be used, and also mentioning that the nearby motorways, Filton Airfield and night-time freight trains on the South Wales Main Line would all produce more background noise than the depot would.[29]

Bristol Metro

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

See also: Greater Bristol Metro
File:Parson Street railway station MMB 20 66053.jpg
FOSBR support the reopening of the Portishead Branch Line to passengers. It is only in use for coal traffic to Royal Portbury Docks.

Portishead Line

FOSBR support the reopening of the Portishead Branch Line to passenger services.[1][19] The line was closed in the 1960s, but was reopened in the early 2000s for freight trains to serve Royal Portbury Docks. The track beyond Pill is either overgrown or built over.[30]

Awards

File:FOSBR Awards Ceremony May 2010.jpg
The FOSBR Award winners from 2010.

FOSBR hold awards ceremonies for people and organisations who have helped promote rail transport in the Bristol area.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Friends_of_Suburban_Bristol_Railways&oldid=694354901"