News / Transport
Full steam ahead or derailment for Portishead railway?
The future of the Portishead railway line is set to be decided by Rachel Reeves’ spending review on Wednesday.
In February, local political leaders struck a deal with the Department for Transport to fund the reopening of the line.
Local government agreed to put up £30m but the government’s contribution will form part of the chancellor’s spending review on Wednesday.
is needed now More than ever
The project will see new stations built in Portishead and Pill and the line connecting the town and village to Bristol Temple Meads for the first time since it was closed to passengers in 1964.
The line as far as Pill has already been restored; although work would need to be carried out on this stretch of the line to make the track suitable for passenger trains and not just freight.
Metro mayor Helen Godwin recently said that she was “absolutely” confident it was still looking positive.
The project has faced setbacks from the chancellor’s announcements before.
The government’s contribution was originally due to come from the Conservative government’s Restoring Your Railway Fund but shortly after the election Reeves announced that this was being cut, leaving the scheme in limbo for months until local political leaders’ meeting with the DfT in February.
When questioned by councillors in March about the project being subject to the spending review, the previous metro mayor Dan Norris said “there are always things at any point in government that could stymie any initiative.”
Norris added at the time: “This is no different. I’m just very confident that this will happen.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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