CAMPAIGNERS fighting for the re-opening of the Portishead railway line are urging local residents to write to council chiefs to highlight the daily traffic chaos getting in and out of the town. The Portishead Railway Group has been lobbying for the re-ope

CAMPAIGNERS fighting for the re-opening of the Portishead railway line are urging local residents to write to council chiefs to highlight the daily traffic chaos getting in and out of the town.The Portishead Railway Group has been lobbying for the re-opening of the final section of line, which currently runs from Bristol to Portbury Docks.The line to the docks was refurbished for freight use at a cost of £21 million, but a further 3.25 miles needs to be upgraded to continue the link to Portishead.Land has also been reserved in the town for a possible new railway station and a car park has already been created next to the Waitrose car park.Despite years of campaigning, problems with finding cash for the project have meant no work on revamping the line has started.Now North Somerset Council is proposing a showcase bus route along the A369 into Bristol as a replacement for a rail link.But the group say the bus route is not the best option and is now urging people who live in the town to write to council leaders highlighting the traffic chaos caused by people trying to get out of Portishead each day.Some mornings it can take up to 35 minutes to travel from Portishead town centre to the motorway junction. A Portishead Railway Group spokesman said: "The best business case can be made by integrating the Severn Beach and Portishead branches, linked at Temple Meads to the benefit of both lines."The same rolling stock could then run continuously from Severn Beach to Portishead and back, enhancing transport for a large part of the Bristol area.""We now need residents of Portishead, Portbury, Pill, Easton-in-Gordano and Abbots Leigh to write to both North Somerset Council and Bristol City Council to inform the councils of their problems with the traffic and transport around Portishead to support the rail initiative."We believe that the councils are not fully aware of the problems that residents have with the existing public transport and the extent of the delays caused by traffic congestion."Residents are being urged to write to Cllr Dr Dennis Brown, executive member transport executive, Bristol City Council, The Council House, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR or Cllr John Crockford-Hawley, executive member for planning and transport, North Somerset Council, Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1UJ.