Reopening the Portishead rail line no longer makes sense

MS Hockin is quite correct (Letters, March 3). I have not experienced the Portway traffic jams, but it is quite wide enough for a bus lane and there are already bus priority measures in place for the Portway Park and ride and Metrobus.

Reopening the Portishead railway line may have made sense 22 years (and £22m) ago. It makes no sense now. We have spent £310m on Greater Bristol Bus network and Metrobus in Bristol. Lay Tarmac on the 3.5 km of disused railbed for a bus lane to Gordano services motorway junction and put up a few signs.

A bus from Portishead gets an uninterrupted run to the motorway and at Avonmouth can join the existing bus priority routes into Bristol. Estimated cost about £10m. And you don’t need to wait for a development consent order!

There are three benefits to using buses:

» They can start from anywhere in Portishead. No need to get to the station. They can go anywhere in Bristol. Direct service to Cribbs Causeway anyone?

» It would save approximately 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

» The railway will cost £116m for one train per hour. Another £55m to go to two trains per hour. Then extra to electrify the line by 2040.

Instead of worrying about coefficients of friction, Ms Hockin should read the Development Consent Order application. Tucked away in it are the expected passenger figures. Initially 88% of the seats will be empty. After 15 years 84% will still be empty!

Of course rush-hour trains will be well used. But the rest won’t have enough passengers to half fill a bus. A half empty bus at 11 mpg makes more sense than a nearly empty train at 2 mpg.

There is only one way to describe the plan to reopen the Portishead railway – barmy!

Barry Cash Bishopston