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FAQs Re-opening the Portishead line - some Frequently Asked Questions

	What is this ‘GRIP’ process?

GRIP is the Governance for Railway Investment Projects - Network Rail’s project management system. All railway infrastructure projects have to follow this eight stage process. Our campaign passed GRIP 2 in 2009 and GRIP 3 in October 2010. The next stage is GRIP 4: Single option development, which builds up the detailed plans for the preferred option.

	What is the Preferred Option?

The preferred option is to operate four carriage trains every half an hour at peak times and hourly off-peak, from Portishead to Bristol Temple Meads calling at Pill, with a 17 minute total journey time.

	Where will Portishead station be?

Land was set aside for the station more than ten years ago. The station will be sited at the rear of the Travelodge/Lidl car park area. The station car park is allocated 100 of these spaces at the far end.

	When will trains start running?

GRIP 3 proposes trains running from January 2017.

	Why is it going to take so long?

Good question! Part of the answer is that funding for the stages beyond GRIP 4 are beyond North Somerset’s control. Funding is currently allocated regionally and has been allocated by the SW regional assembly for the period from 2014. The regional assembly is going so this could of course change ……

A second reason is that GRIP 4 is likely to be long-winded (see below). Finally, the GRIP process is a very methodical, but laborious and slow process, but one which is unavoidable!

	When will GRIP 4 be completed?

GRIP 4 is not scheduled to start until late 2012. This is to allow time for funding to be budgeted. There is of course no funding currently available from central government, but North Somerset has Section 106 monies available from the developers of the Portishead docks which could be used.

GRIP 4 will also required the track to be cleared first, so that existing drainage and infrastructure can be assessed. This in turn will require an environmental survey beforehand. Both of these activities may have to take place at specific times of year, so 2012 may well be about right.

	What about Quays Avenue … ?

When Quays Avenue chopped our line in two, we feared it would be a problem one day. Despite reassurances at the time that “a simple level crossing would be all that is required”, it has become a complication, but one which will be overcome. A bridge will be built over the track and the roundabout will be reconfigured to a T-junction with traffic lights and moved slightly west. This is necessary to give enough space for the slope onto the bridge.

	What about the cycle track’s use of the line at Portbury?

The cycle access was allowed using temporary way-leaves, which can be revoked by Network Rail whenever they wish to operate the railway.

	What about the paths across the line between the Vale and Trinity School?

There are three locations where unofficial paths have been created across the track. These are actually instances of trespass but are so widely used that the Council have had to provide a safe path surface whilst labelling them as temporary paths. When the line reopens, a single footbridge with ramps at the eastern end of the Vale, will replace all these crossings.