Passenger trains could be running on the line between Bristol and Portishead by the end of 2027 thanks to a new agreement with the Government.
Construction of the railway, which was closed back in 1964, could begin this Summer.
This project plan for the wider West of England network, that should see seven stations opened in the space of four to five years, giving around 100,000 more people access to train services:
- Portway Park & Ride station opened in 2023 (the first station to open in the City of Bristol for almost a century, after Parson Street opened in 1927);
- Ashley Down station opened in 2024 (closed in 1964 due to the Beeching cuts);
- North Filton station is being accelerated, aims to open in 2026;
- Charfield station is due to open in 2027/28;
- Henbury station is due to open in 2027/28;
- Pill and Portishead stations are due to open in 2027/28.
It is estimated that a train journey between Bristol and Portishead could take half the time it would by driving in rush hour and could remove as many as 8 million cars off the network by 2044.
“This is great news for residents, businesses, and our environment – and a truly red-letter day for our fantastic region.”
“The Bristol & Portishead Line was a victim of historic rail cuts, but today, with a Labour government and a Labour mayor, we’re delivering the latest stage of my ‘reverse Beeching’ plan. I’m delighted to confirm that this project is now finally steaming ahead.”
Dan Norris, the Mayor of the West of England
Responses
This is nothing to do with the Labour party. They in fact, through their government actually put the mockers on the project. The Conservative Party had more impact upon the success of the scheme by introducing the ‘Restoring Your Railways’ programme. Its a pity that it will all now take a further 2 – 3 years to get to the stage when trains will run. I just hope that someone has the foresight to to ensure silent provision is made for future expansion such as platform lengthening and run round facilities for excursion traffic.
This is welcome news but why on earth is it going to take almost 3 years to get the line open to passengers to Portishead? A lot of the trackwork is already in place and just needs upgrading. Brunel constructed the entire London to Bristol railway line from scratch in 6 years!
Brunel was a bit of a bully with his contractors & between the Directors & their House of Lords friends most of the adjacent landowners had a finical interest in the L&Bs success. Most of the delay do far has been in the planning & consultation & funding activities, not engineering.
Good to see more effort and government support to create better alternatives to cars.
But for this to work, fares have to be reduced significantly and as the railways head toward re nationalisation, the government has to bite the bullet and fund subsided fares.