Road, Rail & Access Issues

[vickersviscount]

Reading on the bristol live Web site,that Bristol Airport have applied for compulsory purchase of twenty two parcels of land to allow the upgrade of the A38 to dual carriageway.Some of the pieces of land are quite small but others for instance, the land at the side of the Airport Tavern by Downside Rd are quite big.The piece on the Bristol Live Web site indictates that Bristol Airport have already reached agreement with other landowners.Although the online piece says that Bristol Airport will only start work on the project if it wins its appeal,it does seem to indicate that Bristol Airport will not be hanging around if the appeal is successful.

 

[superking]

Build a tram line along side as well.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Reading on the bristol live Web site,that Bristol Airport have applied for compulsory purchase of twenty two parcels of land to allow the upgrade of the A38 to dual carriageway.Some of the pieces of land are quite small but others for instance, the land at the side of the Airport Tavern by Downside Rd are quite big.The piece on the Bristol Live Web site indictates that Bristol Airport have already reached agreement with other landowners.Although the online piece says that Bristol Airport will only start work on the project if it wins its appeal,it does seem to indicate that Bristol Airport will not be hanging around if the appeal is successful.

One of the many caveats that were part of the North Somerset Council's planning officers' recommendations to approve the airport's planning application was a recognition of the airport's wish and intent to improve the A38/Downside Road junction which they had already improved some years ago, although some people question whether they actually were improvements given the traffic queues that can occur at the traffic lights on some summer afternoons.

The most contentious part of the CPO action appears to be the requirement to take possession of the Airport Tavern's car park that fronts the A38. A new entrance for the pub would be built around the corner in Downside Road. The Airport Tavern also operates an offsite airport car park immediately to the west and north of the pub.

The Bristol Live report also says that the airport has already purchased the only two houses situated between its boundary and Downside Road - I presume they mean at the A38 end because there are other houses further to the west along Downside Road.

Full details with a map showing the parcels of land in question are in this Bristol Live report - see below link.

The airport owners certainly seem prepared to invest a lot more money into all aspects of expanding and improving the airport, having spent many hundred millions of pounds already over the past two decades. If it all comes to a grinding halt following the appeal, NSC will have to find other employers ready to step in and help with the economy of their small unitary authority. That might not be a simple task.

Bristol Airport want to buy expansion land without owner's consent

Even though the airport was refused planning permission to expand and is appealing

www.bristolpost.co.uk

Build a tram line along side as well.

The CPOs are only for a short section of proposed dualling of the A38 between the roundabout at the airport's main entrance through the junctions with Downside Road and West Lane (the road to Winford and Chew Magna) together with improvements at these junctions.

The elected Labour mayor of Bristol wants a mass transportation system that would include underground and overground sections, probably using tram-like vehicles. I'm no technical expert but I presume that modern trams could negotiate the long and relatively steep Barrow Hill along the A38. The entire A38 between the airport and city would probably have to be dualled first though. Bristol's mayor has said that his anchor route would be that from the city to the airport. If it ever comes about it won't be for many years.

Two or three years ago a £600,000 study was set up involving the airport and North Somerset Council looking at ways of improving surface connectivity to the airport. The airport contributed the lion's share of the cost. That was when NSC had a large Conservative majority. I don't know whether this study has stalled following the election of the so-called 'rainbow' council.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Bristol underground still on course, says mayor Marvin Rees

Opponents have branded the idea "pie in the sky"

www.bristolpost.co.uk

Still in the background with a business case being worked up to present to the DfT. If it ever comes to fruition it's not likely to be in my lifetime unless I can get somewhere near Harry Patch's longevity ("The Last Fighting Tommy").

 

[superking]

From today the A4 decker service from Bath will go hourly. Its due to the covid 19 that this has happened.No date for it to go back to its normal time table as no one knows how long this covid will be around.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

From today the A4 decker service from Bath will go hourly. Its due to the covid 19 that this has happened.No date for it to go back to its normal time table as no one knows how long this covid will be around.

It went to hourly earlier in the pandemic then resumed its usual half-hourly service.

The A4 Air Decker is a commercial service with as far as I know no airport subsidy; in fact, I've been told by some of the bus drivers that the Bath Bus Company (part of the French state-owned company RATP Group) pays the airport a fee for each passenger it takes to/from the airport. Obviously I am unable to confirm that claim.

Because of commercial necessities the route also acts as a normal bus service along its journey, something that has led to complaints from air passengers as continual stopping and starting prolongs the journey. In fact, apart from an hourly Cribbs Causeway-Bath service operated by First, the Air Decker is the only service that links Keynsham town centre with Bath - the high-frequency Bristol-Bath service (First) operates along the Keynsham bypass missing out the town itself (I don't know the situation during the pandemic). The Air Decker also links some south Bristol suburbs that otherwise have no direct bus service between them.

It can be seen therefore that the Air Decker acts as a community facility as well as an airport bus service. With both air travel and ordinary bus demand reduced significantly because of the lockdown it's no surprise that the Air Decker's frequency has been reduced.

Bus from Bath to Bristol Airport - Air Decker

The Air Decker bus from Bath to Bristol Airport provides an efficient bus service operating 7 days a week, all year round except Christmas Day

www.airdecker.com

 

[kraktoa]

For the past 2 days at an empty desolate airport at 10 pm the empty green A4 double decker bus from Bath, was leaving the airport. Empty in and empty out. No flights were scheduled for both days, yet the bus did its rounds, presumably picking people between stops, none to and from the airport. Incredibly sad sight.

 

[superking]

For the past 2 days at an empty desolate airport at 10 pm the empty green A4 double decker bus from Bath, was leaving the airport. Empty in and empty out. No flights were scheduled for both days, yet the bus did its rounds, presumably picking people between stops, none to and from the airport. Incredibly sad sight.

It is a sign of the times with most airports with this covid 19 doing its rounds. It just hopes that airports and industry in general can survive this disease. Full marks that they ran the A4 as im sure they knew not many passengers or none at all from the airport end.

 

[Nethercote2019]

I think airports are going to get quieter if the rumours of enforced quarantine in hotels when arriving in U.K. is enforced

 

[TheLocalYokel]

For the past 2 days at an empty desolate airport at 10 pm the empty green A4 double decker bus from Bath, was leaving the airport. Empty in and empty out. No flights were scheduled for both days, yet the bus did its rounds, presumably picking people between stops, none to and from the airport. Incredibly sad sight.

It is a sign of the times with most airports with this covid 19 doing its rounds. It just hopes that airports and industry in general can survive this disease. Full marks that they ran the A4 as im sure they knew not many passengers or none at all from the airport end.

I think airports are going to get quieter if the rumours of enforced quarantine in hotels when arriving in U.K. is enforced

Unfortunately, it does look as if the significant restrictions associated with the lockdown and border controls will be in place for longer than was hoped when the PM was making optimistic noises at the time of the first vaccine jabs in early December that matters would be much improved by Easter.

With new vaccine variants causing uncertainty and the production of vaccines slowing in pace, hopefully only temporarily, the PM and his lieutenants have been taking a clearly more cautious approach in their public utterances of late.

Apart from the A4 Bath Air Decker, which does pick up a lot of non-airport passengers along its route where in part it is the only direct bus service linking some areas, I don't know which other services are operating. The A1 and A3 suspensions have presumably been extended and National Express has withdrawn all its services. That leaves the A2, the Southwest Falcon and the A5 village bus. I presume the A2 continues to operate but I would imagine the Falcon has been taken out of service at the moment.

Currently easyJet, Ryanair and TUI are due to return in significant numbers towards the end of March/early April with Jet2 set to commence then - in fact easyJet is showing a number of routes returning from the beginning of March. It remains to be seen if government restrictions will make it viable for all that to happen or whether the substantial resumption in flights will be delayed, with a consequent effect on airport bus services.

 

[kraktoa]

If the proposed hotel quarantine rules are enforced then it will be an added burden to the passenger. 10 days in a hotel will result in loads of cancellations, not of flights, but of tickets possibly by the traveller. Loco Airlines will operate the flights reducing their exposure to refunds. Gosh its going to cause chaos. 2021summer is hanging by a thread in Tues announcement.

 

[Cambrian]

My sister who lives near Brisbane , told me that if you arrive in Australia, you have to isolate in a hotel at your own expense. She mentioned that the average cost has been mentioned on TV of approx the equivalent of £1500 for a two week stay. If the same applies to this country, who is going to risk a holiday abroad if you have to pay for your own quarantine and the the time involved on your return to the UK. This could be the final nail in the coffin for some travel companies and airlines, if this is applied in this country.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

My sister who lives near Brisbane , told me that if you arrive in Australia, you have to isolate in a hotel at your own expense. She mentioned that the average cost has been mentioned on TV of approx the equivalent of £1500 for a two week stay. If the same applies to this country, who is going to risk a holiday abroad if you have to pay for your own quarantine and the the time involved on your return to the UK. This could be the final nail in the coffin for some travel companies and airlines, if this is applied in this country.

It seems that the Westminster government is gearing up for hotel isolation in England, with the prime minister saying his ministers are 'actively working on the idea'. If the government is planning such a move the duration of the scheme will doubtless depend on such things as infection rates, the death toll, NHS capacity, vaccination rates and the impact of virus variants.

If international travel is seriously curbed for a large part of the summer the outlook for much of the aviation industry, already grim, would surely become desperate. Even if the UK makes progress it still needs many other nations finding themselves in a position where they themselves can permit international travel.

No-one wants to sound negative about the prospect but there can be a fine line between negativity and reality. We have to hope that the situation is able to be turned around quickly, not just for BRS and its airline partners but for airports and airlines everywhere and, as a nod to this thread, for bus companies serving airports.

 

[superking]

For the next couple of weeks the air decker A4 service from Bath has a new bus on demo to see how it does in service. It is not the normal color of green,its a color of pink.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

More details about £4bn 'Bristol underground' and bus upgrade plan

A time frame and more details of the mass transit system have been announced

www.bristolpost.co.uk

The West of England Combined Authority and Bristol City Council have now published an indicative plan for a mass transport system for the Greater Bristol area following a £1.5 million study. The system would be a mix of underground and overground routes operated variously by train, bus and possibly pod.

The cost is put at £4 billion which means that if it ever comes to fruition it will actually cost considerably more than that, and the 15-year time frame is unlikely to be met either if previous transport and other major schemes in Bristol are a guide.

They are hoping the government will meet half the cost and a pitch will be made later this year. The remainder would come from private investment funding.

Marvin Rees, Labour elected mayor of Bristol, is working with Tim Bowles, Conservative elected mayor of the West of England Combined Authority, on this. They have had an often frosty relationship although the latter will not be seeking re-election.

Mayor Rees first came up with the idea for an underground system in 2017 with a planned completion date of 2027, so that's already slipped by quite a bit. Not all the system would actually be under the ground.

His key route was to be from the city to the airport and that route appears on the indicative plan released today. However, since championing a Lulsgate route when he was a keen supporter of the airport he and the Labour-led city council have done a complete about-turn and now oppose the airport's growth. If they get their way the airport will lose its planning appeal and be capped at 10 mppa indefinitely meaning there will little need for an expensive mass transport route as passengers numbers won't justify the expense of building it.

 

[tpm]

Funding 50% through private investment sounds rather ambitious, wonder what the plan for that is.

The line towards the airport would be as much to support massive new housing developments in South Bristol and south of Bristol, as well as a new A38 P+R.

And I suspect if there's even a remote possibility to run it all the way to the airport, the airport would be happy to chip in. It might be the only way it ever gets to expand.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Funding 50% through private investment sounds rather ambitious, wonder what the plan for that is.

The line towards the airport would be as much to support massive new housing developments in South Bristol and south of Bristol, as well as a new A38 P+R.

And I suspect if there's even a remote possibility to run it all the way to the airport, the airport would be happy to chip in. It might be the only way it ever gets to expand.

Mayor Rees originally thought he could obtain some funding from China. He's paid a couple of visits to that country since being elected, one being to Guangzhou (Canton), one of Bristol's twin cities.

Although I'm not a fan of politicians in general, of whatever political persuasion, I accept that Mayor Rees has done some good things for the city. However, my previous post was sprinkled with a bit of cynicism aimed at the change of heart of the mayor and his party in Bristol regarding their support for the airport. The raison d'etre for his calling the airport route his key conduit was...........the airport.

Part of the obligations that BRS would have entered into had the local authority approved their planning application was a commitment to raise the proportion of public transport passenger travel from 15% at 10 mppa to 17.5% at 12 mppa. That would have included the use of key performance indicators to monitor the rate of increase which would have to average 0.5% per annum with additional measures implemented if this target was not reached.

In addition a feasibility study would be carried out looking at integrating the A1Flyer with the Metrobus network, as well as improvements to the other existing bus and coach services plus some new ones.

Purely in terms of public transport none of this persuaded the planning councillors to approve the expansion plans and I wonder if the mass transport airport service did become a reality what sort of mode it would use. In the end it might be a 'super bus' rather than a tram. Would either be an improvement on existing and promised services that might sway future planning councillors?

Clearly public transport provision is at the forefront of the airport's mind with the new public transport interchange being fast-tracked despite a lot of capital and other spending being frozen because of the pandemic.

Over the past 20-25 years the airport has spent a lot of money on road improvements in its part of North Somerset (and in Bristol with its contribution to the South Bristol Link Road) and not all because of previous section 106 obligations. It's currently trying to obtain CPOs around Lulsgate Bottom to enable a short stretch of the A38 from the airport's main entrance to be dualled and junctions improved.

Those who want to see the airport continue to grow will hope the pandemic won't have done too much financial damage, that it can recover quickly and that it will be successful with its appeal.

 

[superking]

2 new bus routes start tomorrow monday the 5th .
Route 54 will run from Clevedon to the airport.
Route 55 will run from South Bristol to the airport.
Hope the routes do ok.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

2 new bus routes start tomorrow monday the 5th .
Route 54 will run from Clevedon to the airport.
Route 55 will run from South Bristol to the airport.
Hope the routes do ok.

HCT Group - Bristol Community Transport for minibus hire, community cars and more

HCT Group - Bristol Community Transport for minibus hire, community cars and more

Interesting, especially at this time of few flights. Might well be used by some staff and by non-airport passenger traffic as the routes connect a number of suburbs and villages that currently have no direct bus connectivity. Eight weekday journeys in each direction plus a Saturday service, although most journeys seem to be through services between south Bristol and Clevedon via the airport with the route number changed at the airport.

Over 18 month ago the airport announced plans for 'on demand' bus services between the airport and Nailsea and the airport and Clevedon. I presume the pandemic stopped this from commencing.

Clevedon has been linked before when First operated the old A2 route from Weston-super-Mare to the airport and on to Clevedon or Portishead (alternate destinations throughout the day). They were large single-decker buses but the Clevedon and Portishead extensions were not a success.

The new 54 and 55 services will be operated by Bristol Community Transport, a not-for-profit company which is part of the HCT Group. It already operates about a dozen bus services in the Bristol area, mainly in the south, including the long M1 Metrobus route on behalf of First between Hengrove and Cribbs Causeway, as well as the Long Ashton park-and-ride to Southmead Hospital service.

The new route 54 runs from the airport down Brockley Combe (this section also used by the airport's A3 Weston Flyer) then via Cleeve, Claverham, Yatton railway station to Clevedon.

The new route 55 runs from the airport to Felton (this section also used by Carmel's A5 'village bus' link) then via Winford, A38 past Barrow Fountain, then the climb to Dundry Church (this section also used by Bristol Community Transport's Bristol-Blagdon 672 circular service) then down the hill to Bishopsworth, Imperial Park retail park, Hengrove Park (for South Bristol Hospital) to the Whitchurch District Centre that includes Asda and a large medical centre (Imperial Park to Whitchurch District Centre is already served by Bristol Community Transport's 515 service between Stockwood and Imperial Park).

So despite some new direct connectivity there are sections of the routes already operated by other services which might be another reason to question the non-airport traffic passenger volumes.

The A5 village bus is poorly used for the most part and I'm told by the drivers that it is subsidised by the airport. I don't know whether the new 54 and 55 services will receive airport subsidy. Most of Bristol Community Transport's bus services are run under contract to local authorities in the area.

HCT Group - HCT Group - transport social enterprise

 

[TheLocalYokel]

The A5 'village bus' has been discontinued.

I've had a reply from Carmel Coaches, the operator, saying that North Somerset Council did not renew the three-year contract that expired on 31 March this year.

The new 55 service operated by Bristol Community Transport, an HCT Group not-for-profit company, covers a small section of the A5's route but the large village of Wrington, in whose parish the airport is sited and whose parish council is a consistent opponent of airport expansion, has lost its bus service.