Parson Street Railway Station - Future

Future

First Great Western declined an option to continue the Greater Western passenger franchise (of which services at Parson Street are a part) beyond 2013, citing a desire for a longer-term contract due to the impending upgrade to the Great Western Main Line. The franchise was put out to tender, and it was announced in March 2012 that Deutsche Bahn, First Group, National Express and Stagecoach had pre-qualified. The winner was expected to be announced in December 2012, with the new franchisee taking over in April 2013, however, it was announced in July 2012 that the franchise would be extended due to the late issue of the Invitation to Tender (ITT). The ITT was eventually released at the end of July, but the process was halted and later scrapped due to the fallout from the collapse of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin MP stated that he would aim to negotiate an agreement to extend the current First Great Western for at least two years. The coming years will see the introduction of new Intercity Express Trains, capacity enhancements and smart ticketing.

With the coming upgrade to the Great Western Main Line, the main line from London to Bristol is due to be electrified by 2016. However, the electrification will not extend beyond Bristol to Weston-super-Mare, so Parson Street will continue to be served by diesel trains. The group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification continuing to Weston, as does MP for Weston-super-Mare John Penrose.

Parson Street is on the Weston-super-Mare/Yate corridor, one of the main axes of the Greater Bristol Metro, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area. As part of this scheme, the Portishead Branch Line, which runs along the south side of the River Avon from a junction just beyond Parson Street, will be reopened by 2017. Trains along the line will likely serve Parson Street, with an aspiration of two trains per hour in peak periods. The line was built in the 1860s, but closed to passenger traffic in 1964, leaving Portishead as one of Britain's largest towns without a railway station. The line was reopened for freight traffic to serve Royal Portbury Docks in 2001. The scheme was given the go-ahead in July 2012 as part of the City Deal, whereby local councils would be given greater control over money by the government. The Invitation to Tender for the new Greater Western franchise asks bidders to include costs for two trains per hour each direction between Portishead and Bristol Temple Meads, calling at all stations, with one train per hour extended to Severn Beach. These services are to operate from the December 2017, 18 hours a day Monday-Saturday and 9 hours a day on Sundays.

Network Rail, the railway's infrastructure company, is calling for the Down Relief line between Bristol Temple Meads and Parson Street to be reinstated in order to ease congestion. According to the Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy, in the December 2007 timetable period, the line through Parson Street was running at over 75% capacity in the morning peak between 8 and 9am. It was predicted that by 2019, trains working the line would be completely full during peak hours.