City’s Overground can help lay the groundwork for an Underground

THE 2021/22 winter railway timetable in December hails in a new era for local rail in Bristol, although not perfect it is a genuine attempt to unite the city with a regular local rail service connecting the central cluster of Bristol’s inner-city stations; Parson Street, Bedminster, Temple Meads, Lawrence Hill, and Stapleton Road with the Severn Beach Line and stops towards Weston-super-Mare.

There remains a great deal of potential to develop connections with these inner-city stations via the newly four-tracked Filton Bank with Filton Abbey Wood and Bristol Parkway making for a comprehensive Bristol Overground years before the arrival of a Bristol Underground.

However according FoSBR (Bristol local rail’s fan club) 2022 will see the introduction of more half hourly services between Bristol, Gloucester and Westbury, the hope amongst the local rail lobby is that these trains will further enhance the frequency between Bristol’s inner-city stations and their periphery, especially towards the north. Whether a dive under at Stoke Gifford would be required to reach Bristol Parkway is a moot point. We are starting to reap the benefits of recent investment in rail infrastructure and capacity in the form of the four-tracked Filton Bank and remodelled Bristol East Junction.

The elephant in the signal box is of course the missing electrification to link Bristol with the already electrified Great Western main line via Filton Bank and Bath Spa, hobbling public transport in Bristol. Diesel, hydrogen nor batteries don’t cut the mustard when it comes to the start stop requirements of local rail services especially on an inclined Filton Bank that will soon have one or even two new stations, let alone the high demands of goods trains (even more vital now with the current shortage of lorry drivers in the UK) and GWR can’t bring Electrostar trains from Wales via the Severn Tunnel.

I applaud Mayor Rees’s ambition to bring an underground system to Bristol. It is always best to aim high, but the tallest summit can only be reached with small steps rather than a single bound. The electrification of the railways within Bristol’s zone of influence will supercharge existing public transport and can be incorporated into the Mayor’s Underground if it’s a trambased system.

Bristol’s Overground is almost here, and its Underground will arrive more quickly with the electrification of the railways in Bristol . Let’s hope the City and Metro Mayors are working together to push the rail electrification case for Bristol Parkway, Temple Meads and Bath Spa with the Government for the long-term benefit of all the people in the region.

Eric Wildman Madrid