Portway Park & Ride Station – 10th August 2023
Portway Park & Ride station, opened on the first of this month, so I went to visit today.
Note.
- The Portway Park & Ride is served by both buses and trains.
- Buses serve the City Centre and rugby and football at Ashton Gate stadium.
- Trains serve Avonmouth, Bristol Temple Meads, Severn Beach, Weston-super-Mare and a large number of other Bristol stations.
The M5 crosses over the railway to the West of the station.
This Google Map shows the M5 and the Portway Park & Ride.
Note.
- The M5 goes diagonally SW-NE across the map.
- The wide river is the Avon.
- Portway Park & Ride with its station is in the middle of the bottom of the map.
- Avonmouth station is in the North-West corner of the map.
The Portway Park & Ride seems to be an extremely well-connected Park & Ride.
These are my thoughts.
Are There Any Other Park & Ride Sites, Where A Station Could Be Added?
Consider.
- I wrote about a possible new station at Leicester Forest East in A Station At Leicester Forest East.
- In A Look At New Station Projects, several possible Park & Ride stations are mentioned.
Has Portway Park & Ride been developed to see if sites served by buses and trains are a good idea?
Is Portway Park & Ride The Solution To Big Matches At Ashton Gate?
Consider.
- Ashton Gate Stadium has a capacity of 27,000.
- Wikipedia says that buses from Portway Park & Ride are used to bring supporters to games.
- The platform at Portway Park & Ride might be able to take a five-car Class 802 train for a big match.
I wouldn’t be surprised that Portway Park & Ride has been designed for large crowds at big matches at Ashton Gate.
A Diversion To Severn Beach
After my trip to Cardiff yesterday was curtailed by a signalling problem, I ended up at Bristol Temple Meads station.
After checking the timetable, it occurred to me, that it would be easy to take a diversion to Severn Beach station before I took a train back to London.
I took these pictures on the journey.
Note.
- Stapleton Road station has massive ramps.
- Stations like Redland and Avonmouth have interesting art works.
- The Avon, several wind turbines and the Secon Severn Crossing can all be seen.
This Google Map shows the location of Severn Beach station.
Note.
- The M4 and the Second Severn Crossing are at the top of the map.
- The rail station icon marking Severn Beach station at the bottom of the map.
This second Google Map shows the area of the station.
Note.
- Shirley’s Cafe, where I bought my ice cream.
- The cafe does gluten-free breakfasts.
- The promenade, where I took the pictures of the Second Severn Crossing.
- The long platform in the station.
- The fare from Bristol Temple Meads was only £1.95 for a return with my Senior Railcard.
Severn Beach looks to be a good place to go for a walk.
These are pictures I took at and around the station.
We need more ice cream sellers in or near stations.
Portway Park & Ride Station
Portway Park & Ride station is a new station currently under construction.
I took these pictures as the train passed.
This Google Map shows the location of the station.
Note.
- The parking is to the South of where the M5 and A4 cross.
- The blue dot at the South of the site marks the single-platform station.
- The buses from the Park & Ride run every twelve minutes.
- The trains are only an hourly service.
From the pictures, it looks like the station will be opening soon.
I would hope that the access to the parking from the major roads is good.
Improving The Line
I was a bit worried that I’d miss the train back, so I only had an ice cream, but if the trains were more frequent, I might have had a drink in the cafe as well.
Under Future in the Wikipedia entry for the Severn Beach Line, the following is said about train frequency.
Improved services along the line are called for as part of the Greater Bristol Metro scheme, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area. There is an aspiration for half-hourly services, however due to the large sections of single-track and the congested main line from Temple Meads, such frequency is not currently feasible. However, it is expected that with the four-tracking of Filton Bank, including the Severn Beach line between Temple Meads and Narroways Hill Junction, that there will be sufficient capacity to allow half-hourly services.
Two trains per hour (tph) would be a good improvement.
This is also said.
Plans also call for the reopening of the Henbury Loop Line, which could allow a service from Temple Meads to Bristol Parkway via the Severn Beach line.
After my experiences yesterday, a more frequent route between the two major Bristol stations must be a good idea.
Zero-Carbon Trains
Given the route and its length and location, the Severn Beach Line must be a candidate for battery or hydrogen power.
Work Begins On Bristol’s First Railway Station Since 1927
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Construction work has begun on Bristol’s first new railway station in 95 years.
Portway Park & Ride will open in the Summer, linking Shirehampton with the Severn Beach railway line.
It is planned to open this Summer.
I first wrote about Portway Parkway station in DfT Names Five Winners Of Fresh £16m Stations Fund in 2017, when the stations names were as follows.
- Horden Peterlee in County Durham
- Warrington West in Cheshire
- Reading Green Park
- Bow Street in Ceredigion, Wales
- Portway Parkway near Bristol
Note.
- Portway Parkway is the last station to start construction.
- Reading Green Park station is still under construction and should open this year.
- Bow Street station opened in February 2021.
- Horden station opened in June 2020. I wrote about station after a visit, in Horden Station – 28th October 2020.
- Warrington West station opened in December 2019. I wrote about the station after a visit in January 2020, in The New Warrington West Station.
Given the pandemic, the construction hasn’t gone too badly.
Bristol And South Gloucestershire Set For Seven New Train Stations
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Multi-million-pound proposals to breathe new life into Bristol and South Gloucestershire’s defunct railways and reverse the Beeching cuts from the 1960’s, are set to go ahead.
With an investment strategy which proposes £350m for transport over the next 20 years. The West of England Combined Authority (WECA), comprising Bristol city, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset councils, is expected to agree investments into a raft of projects at its committee meeting on Friday, June 14.
The improvements include.
- Improving the Severn Beach Line to provide direct services to Bath and Westbury.
- Reopening Henbury station.
- More frequent services to Yate.
- New train stations in Portishead, Henbury, Portway and Charfield.
Note.
- The reopening of Henbury station must mean the reopening of the freight-only Henbury Loop Line to passenger services.
- Portway Parkway station will be built adjacent to an existing Park-and-Ride.
- I wrote about Charfield station in Beeching Reversal – Charfield Station.
It certainly looks like MetroWest is finally getting underway.
DfT Names Five Winners Of Fresh £16m Stations Fund
The title of this post is the same as an article in Rail Technology Magazine.
It announces the five winners of funding from the Second New Stations Fund.
Stations chosen are as follows.
- Horden Peterlee in County Durham
- Warrington West in Cheshire
- Reading Green Park
- Bow Street in Ceredigion, Wales
- Portway Parkway near Bristol
Note the fund is for England and Wales only!
The stations will be described in the next few sections.
Horden Peterlee
Horden Peterlee station will be on the double-track Durham Coast Line, between Seaham and Hsrtlepool stations.
This Google Map shows the area of the proposed station close to South East View.
Wikipedia says this about the proposed station.
This station, if built, would have 2 platforms with waiting shelters, benches, lighting, help points and CCTV. The platforms would be linked by a covered footbridge and the station would have a car park with space for up to 100 cars as well as facilities for drop-off, taxis and bus services.
Let’s hope the lie of the land, enables the architects to design a good station.
Wikipedia also says this as the reason for building the station.
It was identified that one of the key benefits of reopening Horden station rather than any of the other closed stations on the line was its close proximity to Peterlee which has grown significantly since 1964 and thus, if constructed, a new station in Horden could allow 61,000 residents to benefit from improved access to employment opportunities across the region.
It sounds to me like this station is needed. I would hope to go when this station opens, as it could be a day to remember in Horden.
Train Services
Looking at Passenger Services in the Wikipedia entry for the Durham Coast Line, it would appear that local services between Middlesbrough and Newcastle are a bit thin, at just hourly. An important local route like this deserves to have at least two trains per hour.
Grand Central and Virgin do run trains through the area to Sunderland, but I don’t think they will stop at Horden Peterlee station.
Certainly, a smart new station deserves to have a train service to natch.
Warrington West
Warrington West station will be on the southern Liverpool to Manchester Line between Sankey and Warrington Central stations.
This Google Map shows the area of the station.
It looks like the development site in the South East corner of the map could be Chapelford urban village, with the railway running East-West across the map.
This article in the Warrington Guardian gives more details of the station.
This is a visualisation of the station.
As this station is halfway between Liverpool and Manchester, I have a feeling, this could be a very busy station.
Train Services
Services at Warrington Central station has as many as eight trains per hour passing through.
There is a lot of scope to provide a quality southern service between Liverpool and Manchester calling at Liverpool South Parkway, Widnes and Warrington Central. Warrington West station could be a part of this and I could see it getting between two and four semi fast trains per hour
Reading Green Park
Reading Green Park station will be on the Reading to Basingstoke Line between Reading West and Mortimer stations.
This Google Map shows the area.
Note the Reading to Basingstoke Line down the Western edge of the map.
Train Services
It is expected that services will be at least two trains per hour at the station.
The Reading to Basingstoke Line has the following characteristics.
- It is electrified with 25 KVAC overhead at the Reading end.
- It is electrified with 750 VDC third rail at the Basingstoke end.
- It has less than fifteen miles of line without electrification,
Consequently, I feel that in a few years, this line will be within the capability of a battery powered train, charging on the short lengths of electrification at either end.
Bow Street
Bow Street station will be on the Cambrian Line between Aberwrystwyth and Borth stations.
This article on the BBC gives more details.
Train Services
The Cambrian Line has approximately pne train per hour between Aberwrystwyth and Shrewsbury.
Portway Parkway
Portway Parkway station will be a one platform station on the Severn Beach Line adoining the Portway Park-and-Ride.
Train Services
Wikipedia describes the Services on the line.
Costs Summary
This article from Railway Gazette International has a detailed summary of the costs of the five stations.
Horden Peterlee, Warrington West and Reading Green Park are medium-sized schemes to support housing and business developents and make it easier to get to employment in nearby towns and cities. But they will cost an average of £15million a station.
Certainly, where I live in Dalston and all across North London, the improved North London Line has had several positive effects.
Bow Street and Portway Parkway are small one-platform schemes, which hopefully will provide better Park-and-Ride facilities. The averae cost is a lot less at £4.5million.
Conclusion
It is well-proven that new stations are a way of increasing train usage and they are generally welcomed by train companies, passengers, residents and businesses.
But as the costs for these stations show, medium-sized full-function stations don’t come cheap.
Surely, though on the right housing or business development, designing a station into the development, as at Warrington West or Reading Green Park, must give a payback to the developer in easier sales and rentals.
The two simpler schemes would seem to be part of a trend, where well-designed one-platform stations are built for Park-and-Ride facilities, hospitals, housing developments and sporting venues.
I discuss these stations in The Rise Of One-Platform Stations.
Bow Street and Portway Parkway stations will add two more one-platform stations.
The Anonymous Widower 