One transport project which is moving closer to realisation in the Bristol area – and is popular with locals too – is the reopening to passenger traffic of the railway line to Portishead (which is currently only used by freight trains to and from Portbury Dock. Ed.).
The project will entail building a new station at Portishead and reopening Pill station.
However, there’s also a petition to rally support for the building of a new station at Ashton Gate to replace the now-vanished original Ashton Gate station.
The petition reads as follows.
We are local residents and organisations (big and small) in BS3 campaigning for a new railway station in Ashton Gate on the Portishead branch line.
We want a new station opening in 2019 with two trains an hour in both directions – towards Portishead and Temple Meads.
In 2019 the Portishead rail line will be upgraded for new passenger services linking Bristol, Bath, Avonmouth and Portishead. New stations are being built at Pill and Portishead. Four trains an hour will pass through Ashton Gate.
A station linked into the local bus network would encourage visits to the area and promote the local economy. We believe trains must stop at Ashton Gate to allow residents, workers and visitors to come and go easily and comfortably whilst decreasing the strain on the heavily-used local road network.
A new station would bring substantial, long-term benefits to South West Bristol. Local people are increasingly turning to public transport and more rail services help to promote the city as a European Green Capital.
I believe If you open the Portishead branch. You have to consider opening stations like Ashton gate, also a new one for Royal Portbury Docks. I would definity use both regularly, I would also like to reopen one at Ham Green/ Leigh Woods for bike and walking.
It would be a mistake to think everyone wants to go to Temple Meads. Also it is more likely to become part of your life, if you can use the train for more journeys.
Hope this helps
Hi Andrew
Many thanks for your thoughts, with which I concur, especially in the sense that rail travel becomes part of one’s life the more journeys are made by train. I live near Stapleton Road and the Severn Beach line is a real asset, e.g. for making shopping trips to Clifton, particularly if rail travel is quicker and cheaper than other forms of public transport.