PRG Logo Portishead Railway Group

News Archive 2014   – Newer at top                                         Go to latest news ...




Ashton station possible in MetroWest Phase 2

16 December 2014: A new group campaigning for a station at Ashton have been given a pledge that plans for one will be kept as part of MetroWest Phase 2. The station is unlikely to be built until sometime after 2019. See Bristol Post article 16 December 2014 and Insider Media article - 18 December 2014.


MetroWest Phase 1 Business Case approved by NSC

23 October 2014:  North Somerset Council has approved the MetroWest Phase 1 preliminary Business Case, including the expenditure of £1.495m as its share of funding to progress the next stages of the project.


Portishead station location consultation results

20 October 2014: According to Bristol Post article on 20 Oct 2014, in the consultation on the three station site options, the public preferred Option 2B. A decision will be taken in 2015.


MetroWest Phase 1 Business Case completed.

9 Sept 2014: The Preliminary business case for Phase 1 (which includes the Portishead line) demonstrates that the scheme is value for money, has a commercial footing, is financially affordable and is deliverable in 2019. It demonstrates there are no fundamental barriers to the delivery of the scheme. The preliminary business case is being reported to the 12 September 2014 Joint Transport Board. See TravelWest website and Bristol Post article 9 Sept 2014.


Mural removed

31 August 2014: The mural installed at the rear of Lidl’s car park was removed on 31 August. This was due to aging of the framework and insurance reasons. It is not connected with recent debate over station locations. More details …


MetroWest team to submit case for level crossing to ORR

22 August 2014: The MetroWest project team have agreed to present a case to the Office of the Rail Regulator for the use of a level crossing at Portishead's new railway station. It is expected that the draft submission will be prepared by the end of October. It is not yet known whether this will delay the project. See Bristol Post article 22 August 2014.


Portishead Town Council want level crossing study

19 August 2014: Portishead Town Council is writing to the Local enterprise Partnership asking it to agree to appoint a team of consultants to work on a business case for a level crossing at Quays Avenue. See Bristol Post article 19 August 2014.


North Somerset Council response to Town Council vote

15 July 2014: In response to Portishead Town Council’s vote on 9 July (see below), Nigel Ashton, Leader of North Somerset Council said he will not let anything delay the project to re-open Portishead's railway line. He said "… we cannot let anything delay progress in our negotiations, especially as this is phase one of the Metrowest project. I do not think that the large majority of residents of Portishead and the surrounding area would forgive anyone who delayed bringing the railway to Portishead, whatever their motives."   See Bristol Post article 15 July 2014.


Portishead Town Council vote

9 July 2014: Portishead Town Council decided by a majority vote to reject all of the three new proposed station sites and intends to write a letter to the Secretary of State requesting the station be installed at the original site by Waitrose which requires a level crossing. See Bristol Post article 11 July 2014.


However the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) has made it clear that a level crossing is not an option. PRG believes that the Town Council’s stance on this therefore runs the risk of delaying the implementation of the railway for a significant period of time, increasing its cost, and potentially jeopardising the entire venture.


Final Results of Winter 2013/ Spring 2014 Survey

24 June 2014:We conducted a survey via Polldady.com and the final results are given here. Since we used the free version, public access to the results directly is not possible. So results have been taken from Polldaddy and summarised here.


Portishead station location consultation

12 June 2014: North Somerset Council are considering three new potential station sites at Portishead. Details …

A public consultation will take place between 13 June and 28 July.


Exhibitions will be held at Portishead Methodist Church on Tuesday 24 June and Saturday 28 June.  


Waitrose donation

26 March 2014: Portishead Railway Group has been chosen by the Portishead Waitrose store for its Community Matters Scheme for the month of April 2014. Customers are given a green token and then have a choice of three causes to post their tokens into a box and then at the end of the month these tokens are weighed and depending on the weight an amount of £1,000 is split between the three causes.


Traffic congestion in Portishead

25 February 2014: The temporary closure of Naish Hill for road works has brought traffic chaos to Portishead, emphasising the need for the railway to open as soon as possible. We are very vulnerable to minor road problems. Join in the debate on our Facebook page.


MetroWest Stages Grip 1 and 2

February 2014:North Somerset Council state in their Feb 2014 Portishead Rail Services Newsletter that stages 1 and 2 of the GRIP process for MetroWest are due to be completed by June 2014. (GRIP 3 for the Portishead line was completed in October 2010, but further progress has to wait for MetroWest.)




Latest News News from other years >>