The New Portway Park & Ride Station is Open!
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2023
- There's another new railway station on the network! Today we're in Bristol where Portway Park & Ride has opened to become station number 2,578 on the network. I went down early to ride the first train ....
Update : Dan went down the station himself to count the number of parking spaces, and whilst there he confirmed that there are some EV charging bays - three of them, in original car park (not the extended part for the station)
Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways : fosbr.org.uk/
We have witnessed the pinnacle of bin bag shots.
What a time to be alive!
Yes, Pilning. How we'd like to see SO MUCH MORE in Pilning.
I left Bristol when I left home in 1981. The line to Portishead, the reopening of Henbury station and so much more was talked about a lot then. Well it seems that over four decades later some of it is actually happening. I really hope that the line to Portishead in particular does get going. This line runs along the Avon Gorge and under the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
sounds about right, takes 50 years for anything to be built in the UK
Love to see the increased frequency in the opening of new train stations in the country. Can't wait for more!
Let's hope they keep it up, and begin rolling out electrification along more of the network.
agreed!
@@TalesOfWar Yes, more reopened railway lines too. Colne - Skipton for example. Investment in the railways is always great.
There are lots large organisations already in the Bristol temple quarter and more to follow with the regeneration of the whole area. The train into Temple Meads is perfect for those commuters and the bus is best for shoppers and those working in the city centre. Great video as always Geoff!
Nice meeting you today Geoff by the way I’m Sam the kid in the blue hoodie I love the vid! Hope to meet you again!
The bus is every 15 minutes (every 12 during peak hours), 7 days a week and is likely quicker to get to the city centre than using the train. It'll be interesting to see how many people use the new station and if it impacts the bus service at all. Also the green portacabin is used by the bus drivers as a break room!
As someone who lives local to the station, I think it'll help areas like redland, montpelier (for Gloucester road), stapleton road (for easton, connection for fishponds etc.) have more people using the train from the park and ride sight. But I do agree, it's still faster to get the 9 (park and ride) if you're going to Temple Meads like you said.
Buses should schedule every 15 mins at max. Mine is every 20 mins meaning i have t relay on timetables. This is because if a bus gets cancelled, you do not have to wait so long again. There also should be a bus at each terminus so that if any delays or cancelled, there will be little delay. The worst days if you wait more than 5 mins agfter the scheduled arrival/departure. Why does Crossrail arrive every 3 mins then?
@@annabelholland Buses are scheduled as frequently as the operator thinks is warranted by the traffic available at the time. Buses operating at an interval of five minutes or more have to, by law, operate on a registered timetable, and the operator must do its best to ensure that those timetables are adhered to. They have no flexibility to ensure that there is a bus always at any terminus, or, for that matter, at any other point in the service, or to operate, as they do in London, at an advertised service interval without a public timetable.
@@allenwilliams1306 this is my proposal on how bus travel would be improved. We desperately need more bus drivers so that the delays are reduced. Obviously, this excludes things outside of the companies control such as traffic accidents or if a bus breaks down. Another reason for the 15 min maximum is because of the fact that if you miss the bus, you don't have to wait so long. It also allows the turn up and go service as the tube goes. It also reduces the need for double deckers although double deckers would still be used at peak hours or if the route is normally busy.
The 15 min max would not apply to coaches, intercity travel or what not.
To increase bus travel, the gov already reduced single tickets to £2 which excludes some non-;ocal journeys. But i would apply what Scotland did and made travel for all under 20s (or in uni) and over 60s free. You would either have to show ID or use a specific card for proof of age
It great to see new stations opening after the dismal years of the Beeching Axe. But you get the feeling that little expense has been spared in providing a welcoming station. It is functional, but that's all you can say for it! Thanks for uploading.
The No 9 bus itself has only been running for a few months. It replaced a dedicated Park & Ride bus that was, I think, more frewuent. It benefits from a bus lane for much of the way down the Avon Gorge, so is quite fast.
The 9 is more frequent as the old park and ride was only every 15 we’re as now it’s up to ever 12 the bus is quicker
Watched you on Points West at 18:30 today. Cracking job Geoff!
Cycle racks are always a positive as long as they are very secure and you're not risking your life on a major road by cycling to and from the station.
I’d love them to electrify all the lines around Bristol. And I’d like them to reopen Horfield station which would be handy as the old site is handy for Lockleaze as well as North Horfield. Both Filton and Ashley Down are too far to reasonably walk for many
Don’t be so lazy! Make the effort and enjoy the reward; i.e. the train!
Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways and local residents have been campaigning for Lockleaze station for several years. Bristol city council support this but nothing has been done to progress it yet.
@@nigelkthomas9501 I can walk it but many others are not able to.
@@DevonPixie1991 How far we talking? A few hundred yards? Half a mile? A whole mile or more?
@@nigelkthomas9501 around 1-2 miles for many
Glad you enjoyed your time in Bristol, Geoff. I live near the site of the Ashley Down station under construction, and I'd be happy to see you there next summer for the "launch".
Sure looks like exciting times around Bristol with all those proposed and being built stations. Great video once again Geoff, thankyou.
Gawd, it’s been so long since i was at uni in Bristol, I’d forgotten the city had a local train network 😬 Have to admit, rarely used it back in the 90s/ early 00s; buses were much more convenient sadly, even though Redland Station was literally at the end of my road and Clifton Down was our local shopping area, and I’d regularly use Temple Meads to get home in the holidays.
It was nice to meet you at Portway Geoff, and I managed to be in the video twice! Lol
I love your enthusiasm and joy at what would otherwise be simple infrastructure. This enthusiasm is so important. I wish we had someone like you in America.
Did you see the Miles in Transit video? Miles is great!
When I worked on the railway in Bristol, a few moons ago, it seemed that the railway was in terminal decline in the Westcountry. Between the trains being old heaps of junk, overcrowded 2 coach Sprinters, even the occasional Pacer. The signalling equipment was antiquated, there was no overhead power and Temple Meads was out of the way and loomed over by a derelict building. Filton Bank was 2 tracks and a constant source of delays and there was still an actual airfield taxiway crossing the line at Filton on the Henbury Loop (I have a photo of a 747 taxiing across while I was working on the signalling equipment). These days, TM has been surrounded by new development with more to come, the signalling equipment has been renewed, the trains have been renewed (albeit still 2nd hand) and extended and the prospect of more new stations and eventual overhead wiring. It’s good to see.
It really would be good to get more suburban rail in Bristol. The stuff we've got works really well, but it definitely feels like we're missing a trick not putting more in.
Just a shame there's not really a sensible line to the actual city centre - Temple Meads is a bit further out than I'd like (there's a good video by Pedestrian Diversions on the subject)
The city is expected to shift quite a bit towards TM over the next decade, as all new development is likely to be around Temple Quarter and the new Uni Campus.
bristol metro when 👀
Yes, Bristol has always been behind Cardiff! Ha Ha.
Nice!! It seems that part of the £6 million was sent to the guys in IT to make sure the station was on the system before it actually opened!
Well done GWR and well done Geoff for introducing us ;)
This uploaded just as I got back from my own first-day flying visit to Portway Park and Ride. Didn't have the energy to get up for the first train. But I am a member of FOSBR!
Was great to meet you this morning in Shirehampton on the hunt for coffee, not sure if you did find any? from Anthony the Funeral Director
@@geofftech2 ah super! I can see why you needed it now starting that early!
Great video Geoff, only you could manage to get the artistic shot of two synchronised flappy plastic bins in the vlog. The Master at work. 🤔👌
hehe i caught jen on the move filming on board as i made a trip through lawrence hill earlier today. awesome to see everyone in bristol, glad to see more work on the severn beach line which i'm on every week, and hopefully more coming to an area that needs it
I drove over the Avonmouth bridge twice last week, oblivious to the yellow line painting below. Tim is a gem, but empty bin bags fluttering in the breeze for the win! Criminal not to have put rapid EVCP in that massive car park in 2023!💜
Re charging, not sure rapids are needed, its a park and ride so maybe just fast chargers (you will be there sometime), but I would have hoped for some charging.
Rapids are pointless in locations where cars will be staying several hours - for the same money they can install dozens of 7-11kW AC chargepoints
@@mikeselectricstuff 100% agree, can't comprehend why rapids are being installed at places where you're supposed to park all day!
That reminds me of when we had a school coach trip to look at the newly opened Avonmouth Bridge. Prior to that all the M5 Bank Holiday traffic had to drive through the centre of Bristol, which was an absolute nightmare.
Proper use of tactile paving to provide a guided path for visually impaired passengers!!! Very happy about this!
Two things Geoff - firstly at present on Stagecoach at least there is the £2,00 flat single (not return) fare scheme which I imagine would apply in Bristol ....I believe it is due to continue for a while yet.
Secondly as I live near Thanet Parkway I decided to pop along for its opening - I agree with your friend about the outside as it is roomy and uncomplicated (230 plus spaces) but the actual platforms are rather narrow and the sound proofing is restrictive although it might have also been erected due to the very high winds in the area (the sea is nearby).
But most of all there are no toilet facilities (not even a green shed) and when I asked one the meet and greets why after spending something like £30 Million that the loos were not considered I was told that they might encourage anti social behaviours and the like (what in the middle of cornfields).
This will work as a park and ride especially if you are attending a gig in Margate or live in nearby Ash but overall it has the feeling of a white elephant - another criticism is that although covered by CCTV the station/area is so remote that it is not the place that women would want to be after dark.
I also spoke to a couple of members of the railway police who expected it to become a place where bored kids might hang out and decorate the station........hope this helps ....
Living in the area and working a 5 minute walk from this station, the bus does offer a £2 fare however Stagecoach sell a return on the 9 for £3.50. This is NOT a government fare scheme for the return, it's a Stagecoach set price (although WECA - council - have influence on that as the park and ride is a contract). The green shed is indeed NOT part of the train station or the train station facilities. It is part of the main park and ride facilities and there is indeed a toilet in there. The section next to the toilet we see Geoff go into is an office which is now used as a driver break out room since Stagecoach took over in April. Hope this help clears things up :) I personally (this is now talking on opinion) don't see the station being a good spend of money as if you park your car, you'll most likely want to go into the city centre or into Broadmead for the shops - Temple Meads is a good 15-20 minute walk away, while the more frequent bus serves. I'm not sure if it'll ever make a 'profit' to cover the £6 million cost of building it...
The £2 single thing applies to the whole of England, on every bus, but not coaches.
you are so lucky that you have 2578 open railway stations in your country, in my country there are like a few hundred , but 66 are metro stations (8 have mainline railway too (it is counted as an osi except for shared platform stations)) and apart from 44 the other stations have less than one train per hour each direction... (the most frequent direction is counted)
What country is that please? It would give us some idea of the comparison.😊
Very nice little railway station on the outskirts of Bristol City Centre and next to the viaduct that carries the M5 motorway. Maybe you should do the Portishead line once it does reopen and new stations being added.
I finally got round to visiting yesterday. I went out by train and back by bus! All good fun!
Saw you on our local points west news as well.
Thank you. So nice to see the new stations open.
Love this video style! Its like a documentary and a vlog combined!
Good vid. Thanks. The train goes to Temple Meads but the bus goes around the city centre and now extends its journey to Brislington P&R. So, the train is very specific whereas the bus travels to more destinations. Hence people travelling by bus will be going to a different place/places.
Great to see another railway station open. I did the Severn Beach Branch back in May and the station looked almost ready to open then.
Hopefully see you down here again for the Portishead branch sometime in the next century
Yes. Geoff will be there on his mobility scooter. The time taken to get passengers to Portishead is just embarrassing.
I recall that well over thirty years back there was a plan to have some four or five tram lines radiating from Temple Meads out to the suburbs like scores of European cities, but due to squabbling, etc, it was scrapped with the result that Bristol has some of the worst road traffic congestion of any British city.
Having lived through the nadir of the railways in the Thatcher years, when any form of public transport was not supported, I am so delighted at their renaissance!
Brilliantl video Geoff, I popped down a little later and was there around midday but it a nice little station.
Interestingly the same thing happened in Oxford - Water-Eton Park & Ride, a bus P&R, had extra car capacity added but the station was still call Oxford Parkway
great video Geoff I thought you
d be down so did try to pop say hello. The give or take part of the parking spaces is based on how well people park. Bristol has a habit of thinking renault clio is a wide veichle or the roads are a new car park. Keep up the good work
Thanks for the video. I was thinking when the first bin bag scene was shown, that you should have something so you could christen the bag , and then towards the end, you did!
Great video Geoff, relaxed and informative too. Except the poor donut management, but made up for it the majestic bins blowing in the wind with the sunrise behind shot. Best one yet. And yes, I’m easily pleased….
i half expected a tardis dematerialisation when you went into the toilet building
Nice one Good to see another new station open for business. 😀
Would be nice to see a Thanet Parkway open video, it was building site last time you went.
Agree!
The loo soundtrack absolutely cracked me up
Heard you on BBC Radio Bristol at 9.10 this morning!
I should think this new station ought to do well once people wake up to it (the bus Park & Ride was very quiet for a few years, then suddenly started to get quite busy). I think one advantage this station has is car parking, and even better being free - Bristol Parkway is something like £7 or more per day, and it can get quite full, unless you don't mind the long walk from the (cheaper) council car park.
Car to train is more convenient at Portway P&R (no having to go up, across, and down again as at Bristol Parkway), apart from the fact it's a fairly exposed site and can be very chilly in the winter, and an unpleasantly long walk to the other end of the car park if raining!
The Portakabin used to be for the security staff, until CCTV replaced them about 7 years ago - John, we missed you cheering us up on cold miserable mornings, and on evenings when the bus service had gone to pot! CCTV can't do that!
BTW, the no.9 bus has only recently replaced the old separate Portway P&R and Bath Road P&R services - the new no.9 runs from P&R site to P&R site through the middle of Bristol, even passing Temple Meads.
Brilliant effort ! Geoff 😊
Hope you will be at Ashley Down next year, fingers crossed!
Exciting! For many people, a train to temple meads from that location is far more practical than a bus to the centre. Hopefully the first of many more.
I saw Geoff at the station in the shelter, I thought it was him for a second but doubted myself. Anyways really cool new half desolate station.
One thing that puzzles me with EV charging at stations. The rules for charging are that as soon as the car is charged you move it for the next person to use. So if they put something like a 22kw chargers at the station. The average car will be fully charged in around 2-3 hours (with my older car it would be 1.5 hours) - so unless you are only going to be away a short time, its not the sort of place you can leave your car all day.
While out on our travels over the last week we called into Redbridge (bus) Park & Ride
Abingdon Road south of Oxford to charge my car using a FASTNED 150 kw charger which took about 50 mins to complete a charge! While it was charging We walked to a nearby Tesco express for food and ate !
Not everyone uses the park and ride bit, we were glad the chargers where there!
What should happen is that every parking space should have a charger
@@katrinabryce That will have to happen, especially when every car is electric. Where I live there are loads of free 7kw street chargers - but as there are not that many electric cars around yet it is about a 50% chance that one will be available where you need one. Some of the smaller villages only have 1 free on street charger, but most supermarkets provide 3-4 free charging spaces so there is always somewhere to charge if I need to. Problem is going to be when more people have cars and it becomes impossible to find an available charger.
For a station, several 3.3 kWh chargers would be sufficient (as at my workplace car park) around 12 miles per hour so over 100 miles worth in just 8 hours of charging. More than enough for most people's daily driving and best use of charging time IF every spot had a charger.
@@jeffb7241 Really, every parking space in every car park will need 3kw charging points in the future - but just think how much power that would draw if half the cars in the UK were plugged in at the same time - around 18 million cars charging. Could the UK produce that power when they seem to be having problems producing enough power now?
Nice work Geoff
First new station in Bristol in 96 years
Excellent! Great video too! I hope you come to West Yorkshire when the new White Rose station opens. Should be finished by the end of the year, possibly January 2014.
I was going to give you a present at Thanet parkway but you weren't there😭
Also I heard your voice at Thanet parkway playing
Hoping to see you on the other side of the river Avon soon-ish for Portishead, Geoff. It's a beautifully scenic track.
Nice to see a new station opening up: I feel like I know the drill by now. I love that 😂
Nice Work Mate 👍
Another Great video Geoff.
Hi Geoff.
You mention Thanet Parkway opened on Monday.
BUT, apart from a couple of rush hour trains, only HS1 trains stop.
What do customers for Dover and Folkestone do?
Please use your unrivalled knowlege of National rail,to find out why this situation exists.
Many thanks for all your excellent vlogs, which are a great help to customers nationwide.
Cheers pal.
Mike
Brabazon opened the extension of the northern line to morden when he was transport minister 1923
Loved watching all your London Underground stuff in particular Geoff, so great to see you down here in Bristol.
I suspect this station will be fairly quiet, unless Bristol surprises everybody by finally building the arena, which they’ve been promising and talking about for years. If the arena miraculously happens and they re-open the Henbury loop and have the promised station for the arena, Portway P & R would really come into its own.
For anyone travelling to events via the M4 and M5 in particular, this would be the perfect place to park up and hop on the train for the final, short leg of the journey to the arena.
Btw, the chap didn’t mention that the Brabazon hangar where the arena is planned is also where we built Concordes.
Is it really that short a trip from Portway to the arena site? I'd estimate it's 7-8 miles by train, so at least 15 mins. And with half hourly services that's pretty inconvenient!
I had to do a double take when I saw the rail map - is that really the sum total of the network in Bristol? There are plenty of cities on the Continent of similar size to Bristol, which have integrated metros, trams, even partially underground lines! I don't understand why Bristol missed out on the big expansion of metros in the 90s, as it was obvious then it was a potential growth area.
@@rogink Afaict the UK is much less committed to public transport than many other countries in Europe. A few of the larger conurbations have some sort of tram or metro system, but many do not.
@@petermichaelgreen Of course it's not just public transport. It's inconceivable a European city the size of Bristol wouldn't have a complete motorway ring around it.
Stunning.
It is great to see new stations around Bristol and proper Metro type system developed. Have used this as a Park and Ride for many years and will look forward to trying this out. Maybe next one for a doughnut 😅
Ex-Home Counties based 165's all over the place in Bristol now, okay on services to Weston Super Mare, and the Severn Beach line, not so good on Cardiff-Portsmouth.
Martins Heron between Bracknell and Ascot is imformally known as Crowthorne Parkway
The bus service was recently re tendered to Stagecoach West and was renumbered to the 9 as a through service to Brislington park and ride. Used to be First Bus and was just called Portway park and ride
Whilst all the platforms on the Severn Beach line are 5 car, you never see a 5 car train, sometimes it's just 2! As someone has said, once a day you can get direct to Salisbury. GWR is doing some good work around Bristol (along with Network Rail) but they do need to work on unit allocations because the trains get rammed quite easily, especially those going to Weston or if there is an event on on The Downs.
I think a trick has been missed with the conversion of the North Filton line from Freight to passenger use. A circular route could have been made via Avonmouth, with more passing loops you could have had a half hourly or even 15 min interval in both directions (I think this may have been initially proposed by the metro West scheme but quickly dropped).
At peak time its a 3 car at certain times of the day.
Another great video, Geoff. I wish they could do something about the horrible fencing that’s akin to an industrial estate. If I remember, the fencing was better at a marsh Barton. I assume much of the £6 million would have been for the signalling etc?
🎉🎥🏆Great film. Thank you. X
GWR is a very underrated company
I believe there it also goes to Salisbury once a day I think
7:10 no "It's time for the Geoff Marshall Loo Review"?
I saw Jen's video and so I was waiting for this one all day 🤣🤣 I wasn't dissapointed though!
Great interlood
In 1989-1990 I worked on Saturdays at Clifton Down shopping centre collecting shopping trolleys, including from the car park outside Clifton Down train station. In 1999-2003 I worked with Olga of Piling fame who got name checked later in the video, Many memories.
Love a gwerbo
It would be awesome if we could get St Annes Park station reopened, that will enable thousands of people to get into town in one stop, the slip way exists already
I am a cyclist and I love the Bristol to Bath cycle path but if that could be reopened as a train or tram line it would take a LOT of cars off the roads....and serve a lot of the East of Bristol and beyond
Went there yesterday, decided to walk to Avonmouth. Went to an Avonmouth on the other side of Avonmouth from Avonmouth, so I had to just get back to Temple Meads from St Andrews Road. I did two ‘geoff’ stations in one day!
I loved the toilet symbol on the test card. I think you could use the Test Card thing more often. I se we have another station, another parkway/park & ride. No ticket office of course . Definitely seems to be the way forward
Don't forget a station at Clevedon!
The new REM station got 60 chargers, our new station got none. Just how backwards are our railway planners?
Cant wait Geoff I’ve seen it looks exciting
(Can’t believe you didn’t get the donuts)
1:26 Three of my favourite UA-camrs all in one place! I love seeing your videos up here Geoff, I hope you had a nice time
Sorry you missed the doughnuts
I lived next to Clifton Down station for over 10 years, and I'm heading back to Bristol this Friday so I might get a chance to check out this new station even if it's just in passing on the way to Severn Beach. It's been talked about for years, same with the other potential new stations mentioned, so it's slow progress. They don't seem to have put the prices up while I've been away, in fact I don't think they changed the ticket prices in last the 10 years, not since they introduced the Inner and Outer fare zones with Clifton Down in the cross-over point. I remember at one point they did change the fares one January but it didn't last long before it reverted back to the old prices, my guess with the fares being £1.50, £2 or £3 it was easier to give change to anyone paying cash at the prices they'd been at for years than adding 10p here and 20p there.
If you have 3 or 4 people in a car you can get a group 3 or 4 discount so even cheaper than £3 return to Bristol and back.
Geoff, I hope you are one day doing video on Thanet Parkway
The bus probably goes to the city center and Broadmead. Bristol Temple Meads is nowhere near either of these so the bus may still be popular.
You need to do visit all Parkway stations next 😀😀😀😀😀
3:50 Maybe the most artistic blowing bin bag shot yet. 😍
But just one solitary frame where there is no glare from the sun.
I think they're trying to multiply?!
For those wishing to get to the City Centre itself, the Park & Ride bus will be quicker for them to stick to the bus, as its almost a mile walk from Temple Meads
I’m from Bristol and didn’t even know it opened until watching this videos
Another outstanding example of the best that British architecture and engineering are throwing into exemplary and inovative station design? Wow.
Wish I had shares in the company that makes those tin fences.
I wish we had a national list of rail stations in the US... Like there's Amtrak but that excludes all the commuter lines and state run lines...
Great to see yet another new station. Shame, however, that there are no new trains to go with it rather than 30 year old cast offs from the Thames Valley!
Nostalgia rush for me at the mention of Severn Beach, we used to go there on holidays when I was a kid, in the way kids are idiots, we used to beg to go there despite it being a field with three swings and a witches hat at one end...
Portway Parkway also would have been a weird name, tbh
Hi Geoff, good video, which new stations are planning on going to next?
could be Brent Cross West, scheduled for Autumn 2023 (if they don't delay it again)