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Tytherington Quarry; freight line to reopen?

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ExRes

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Thanks Mark, I see that DCR have daily schedules for 6V01 Willesden F Sdgs to Appleford and 6M58 Tytherington to Willesden DCR Sdgs which are being cancelled, are these just old schedules that have become not required do you know or could they actually happen?

Thanks
 
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Checkflaps

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I noticed in the run up to Christmas that they finally got around to relaying the old headshunt from the quarry all the way up to the A38 bridge. It was quite a nice surprise to be driving back to Thornbury and see some heavy plant doing some work in the cutting. I'll see if I can get a picture of it at the weekend.
 
duffield

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Google streetview time line shows this area as completely buried in trees in April 2017, and almost cleared in July 2018; it's quite a difference!

This might make a good location for 'Thornbury Parkway', with a class 139 shuttle to Yate :E:E:E
 
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Noddy

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duffield said:
Google streetview time line shows this area as completely buried in trees in April 2017, and almost cleared in July 2018; it's quite a difference!

This might make a good location for 'Thornbury Parkway', with a class 139 shuttle to Yate :E:E:E
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The trackbed immediately east of Midland Way would be a much better location for walking and cycling connections and probably save the orchard to the south of your suggested site being ripped out for a car park. I appreciate your suggested site would be cheaper though.
 
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Chris 76

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You think there's a demand for rail travel from Thornbury to Yate? No way is it worth investing to maintain the Tytherington branch for passenger standards for a slow trundle to Yate, then change for trains to Bristol. Probably no quicker than the bus from Thornbury to Bristol!
duffield said:
Google streetview time line shows this area as completely buried in trees in April 2017, and almost cleared in July 2018; it's quite a difference!

This might make a good location for 'Thornbury Parkway', with a class 139 shuttle to Yate :E:E:E
Click to expand...
 
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Noddy

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Chris 76 said:
You think there's a demand for rail travel from Thornbury to Yate? No way is it worth investing to maintain the Tytherington branch for passenger standards for a slow trundle to Yate, then change for trains to Bristol. Probably no quicker than the bus from Thornbury to Bristol!
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Absolutely.

Thornbury should be the northern terminus of MetroWest, rather than Yate, as currently planned. A Thornbury-Yate shuttle and change would be pretty slow compared to a car or bus unless your destination was within 5 min of a station.

I know there’s talk of extending MetroWest to Gloucester, but what that route actually needs is for Bristol-Worcester to go hourly and be sped up where possible (Gloucester and Abbots Wood/Norton Junction I’m looking at you!) to allow proper commuting/travelling along the M5 corridor. Not more trains which only go as far as Gloucester, and would be pretty slow stopping at all the Bristol suburban stations.
 
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Brush 4

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Why should all the branch trains terminate at Yate? Morning and evening peak services would continue to BRI.

The missing bit of track seems to be barely 1/2 a mile to Midland Way, which is a Thornbury ring road.

As the track is already to a standard to take heavy stone trains, a DMU would hardly register. Just signalling and a single platform halt needed, with car park. A cheaper and simpler reopening would be hard to find anywhere else.
 
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Chris 76

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Brush 4 said:
Why should all the branch trains terminate at Yate? Morning and evening peak services would continue to BTM. The missing bit of track seems to be barely 1/2 a mile to Midland Way, which is a Thornbury ring road. As the track is already to a standard to take heavy stone trains, a DMU would hardly register. Just signalling and a single platform halt needed, with car park. A cheaper and simpler reopening would be hard to find anywhere else.
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Well, Portishead looks like a simple reopening, but still hasn't happened and the cost has risen considerably. And that's a reopening that should happen.
 
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Noddy

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Chris 76 said:
Well, Portishead looks like a simple reopening, but still hasn't happened and the cost has risen considerably. And that's a reopening that should happen.
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They both should happen, but the Portishead line has more considerable engineering challenges than the Thornbury line. Both the existing freight lines are about the same length and would require the current signalling and track to be upgraded to passenger use but the Portishead line requires maybe three miles of new track depending on where the station is sited, rebuilding at least one busy road which cuts the former trackbed, and sorting out a very busy level crossing in Bristol. The Thornbury line requires maybe 500m of new track (you could get away with none and just build a station at Grovesend although I think this would be a mistake) and upgrading three level crossings on B and unclassified roads.
While the population of Portishead (pop 25k) is obviously bigger than Thornbury (pop 12k plus Alveston 3k) a station at Midland Way just off the A38 could give significant Park and Ride opportunities.
 
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duffield

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Chris 76 said:
You think there's a demand for rail travel from Thornbury to Yate? No way is it worth investing to maintain the Tytherington branch for passenger standards for a slow trundle to Yate, then change for trains to Bristol. Probably no quicker than the bus from Thornbury to Bristol!
Click to expand...

No. It wasn't a serious suggestion. I thought that the use of three of these: :E would make that clear. Maybe I should have used four.
 
Ashley Hill

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As I mentioned in another thread,if this were Scotland or Wales these lines would be open. Both along with Okehampton could be classed as "quick wins" that is much of the line is there and would need little work to reopen.
 
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A Challenge

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Okehampton is already there, and used by passenger trains on Summer Sundays, so I would think there is nothing to do, other than find stock and paths?
 
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Noddy said:
They both should happen, but the Portishead line has more considerable engineering challenges than the Thornbury line. ...While the population of Avonmouth (pop 25k) is obviously bigger than Thornbury (pop 12k plus Alveston 3k) a station at Midland Way just off the A38 could give significant Park and Ride opportunities.
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Did you mistype "Avonmouth" for "Portishead"? Both Thornbury and Portishead are satellite dormitory towns for Bristol at similar distances and with similar demographics. (Avonmouth is something quite different). There are traffic jams in and out of Bristol for both of them in the rush hours and both need a rail service into Bristol.

WRT adding pasenger services to these freight lines, for comparison there has been talk of merely adding a station at the Portway P&[bus]R for about the last 10 years. The line (the Severn Beach Branch) is alongside the existing P&R car park, already has a stopping passenger service shared with practically nothing else, and it is single track (no footbridge needed) - so adding a station ( a short platform with a "bus" shelter) is as simple as it can get. Yet we are still waiting for a station there.
 
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Ashley Hill

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A Challenge said:
Okehampton is already there, and used by passenger trains on Summer Sundays, so I would think there is nothing to do, other than find stock and paths?
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Indeed so but there seems some reluctance to run weekday services. And like Bristol the A30 and roads into Exeter are gridlocked most of the day. Also Coleford Jct to Meldon is not owned by NR but a compulsory purchase order would soon alter that.
 
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Checkflaps

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Brush 4 said:
Why should all the branch trains terminate at Yate? Morning and evening peak services would continue to BTM. The missing bit of track seems to be barely 1/2 a mile to Midland Way, which is a Thornbury ring road. As the track is already to a standard to take heavy stone trains, a DMU would hardly register. Just signalling and a single platform halt needed, with car park. A cheaper and simpler reopening would be hard to find anywhere else.
Click to expand...
As a local, I agree about the Midland Way extension.
However, it would require the headshunt to be relaid (again) as it is currently laid level (understandably), whereas the original trackbed was on a downwards gradient towards the tunnel under the A38. If you look now, you can see that the line is only a couple of metres below the carriageway height. Nothing insurmountable though.
But, as others have pointed out, the ability to get anything infrastructure based built in the Bristol area seems to be nigh on impossible. Still waiting for the trams! :rolleyes::D
 
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BigCj34

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Checkflaps said:
As a local, I agree about the Midland Way extension.
However, it would require the headshunt to be relaid (again) as it is currently laid level (understandably), whereas the original trackbed was on a downwards gradient towards the tunnel under the A38. If you look now, you can see that the line is only a couple of metres below the carriageway height. Nothing insurmountable though.
But, as others have pointed out, the ability to get anything infrastructure based built in the Bristol area seems to be nigh on impossible. Still waiting for the trams! :rolleyes::D
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How far west of the Midland Way could a line feasibly go? And is there room for a station? It looks like the line is now a footpath and by the looks of it the Heron building would be in the way of a good spot for a station.
 
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Paulgkn

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Just been reading Modern Railways, May edition, passed to me last week.
Trains get to Tyherington at about 20.00, are loaded over night and depart at about 05.00 with 4000 tonnes of stone.
Class 66/5 and 66/5 locomotives double head it.
 
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