Hopes to reopen Portishead railway line revived
Seemingly doomed plans to reopen the railway to Portishead could still go ahead after metro mayor Dan Norris said he was “quietly confident” they would get the green light. In July, the new Labour Government axed the Restoring Your Railway programme, which was needed to help fund the project, to save £85million after claiming the Conservatives had left it with a £22billion national financial blackhole.
But now Mr Norris has given fresh hope that it will be resurrected and chosen from a list of railway schemes around the country similarly at risk and under review. The Labour regional mayor told the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) overview and scrutiny committee that the Portishead line, including new stations in the town centre and at Pill, was in a “strong position” because there was certainty over the costs and that it had been so close to starting before the Government seemed to have pulled the plug.
A total of £152million had been committed from Weca, the Department for Transport and North Somerset Council for the “shovel ready” scheme. Mr Norris told the meeting on Monday, September 16: “I made a commitment as mayor with my combined authority colleagues to additionally fund another £10million not so long ago.
READ MORE:No mass transit system for Bristol region until the 2030s
READ MORE:B&Q owner plans to open Screwfix City store in Bristol
“North Somerset Council did that as well to keep the project literally and metaphorically on track. There were issues about what the costs would actually be.
“It’s true to say that the plans have been very over-engineered. The cost per kilometre is quite high compared to other tracks being put down – I’m not sure what that’s about.
“We now have a degree of cost stability so we know what we’re dealing with because the big anxiety was we were told it was going to cost £100million and then it was going to be nearer £150million, so we were thinking, based on that record, where could it be? There is cost stability now of around £150million and we are in a strong position to proceed with that, but it’s not a guarantee because that’s a decision that’s being made against other projects up and down the land.
“But what I am confident about saying is that I would argue our Portishead line is so close to starting that it puts it in a good position to go forward. They were clearing the trackside of trees and various other foliage with a view to doing significant things in the spring and getting on with the tracks.
“We’ve very close to doing it. That puts us in a strong position because we’re literally at the point of putting shovels in the ground. Economically it makes a lot of sense compared to the other lines that are in contention against us.”
Sign up to receive daily news updates and breaking news alerts straight to your inbox for free here.
He said the Government would make a priority list of railway projects currently under threat of not happening. Mr Norris, also MP for North East Somerset & Hanham, said: “Nothing is done until it’s done.
“You think you’ve got it and then somehow it slips out of grasp but we’re very close and I’m quietly confident.” Answering questions from Bristol City Council Conservative group leader Cllr Mark Weston, he said: “What I know is some projects will be going ahead but it will be reduced compared to what was originally planned.
“I do know we’re very much in contention. I’m having discussions that suggest that’s the case.”
The West of England mayor said another project, the Henbury line, was on track “as much as these projects ever are because they’re never on time or where people say they’re going to be”. He said: “It’s been interesting being the region’s mayor because I’ve learned how slow some of the organisations are.
“The deadlines are pretty meaningless which is very frustrating because we work with our unitary authorities to try to make sense of these timetables so we can fit in other things. So it’s on track as much as these things are ever on track.
“I’m not aware of anything that’s saying there’s a huge unexpected delay compared to normal. Is it as prompt and efficient as it should be? No.
“I’m puzzled why in this country we can’t do what other countries do in Europe. They’re able to build tracks, plan them, get on with them, fund them and anticipate them arriving with much greater accuracy than we ever seem able to do.
“I suspect that’s slightly above our pay grade to get sorted but we should rightly draw attention to our disaffection with that.”