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This week we jointly announced with the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority that we’re looking to contribute the additional funds needed to deliver the long-awaited scheme.
The Full Business Case for reopening the rail line was submitted to the Department for Transport in December last year.
However, this business case identified an emerging gap in the scheme’s funding, caused by delays, inflation and rising costs across the construction industry.
To tackle this challenge, the West of England Combined Authority is set to contribute another £27m and we’re looking to provide the remaining £3m.
The combined authority will ratify this at their March committee meeting, while our contribution is set to be approved at the Full Council meeting next Tuesday (18 February).
Reopening the line, which closed in 1964, would be transformative for our area.
It will connect 50,000 people back into the rail network, slash travel times in half and reduce car commuting by 5.5 per cent.
It would also unlock an estimated £43m in economic growth every year.
If the additional funding is committed and the Full Business Case is approved by the Department for Transport, which they have indicated will follow quickly, construction of the rail line and stations at Portishead and Pill could begin soon afterward.
The scheme is ‘shovel-ready’ and so once the additional funding is confirmed, it would bring us ever closer to the first trains making their journeys in 2027.
Our £3m contribution will be drawn from the Economic Development Fund, a £500m fund created from retained business rate growth across the West of England Enterprise Zone and Areas.
The fund is focused on supporting infrastructure to help unlock job creation within the Enterprise Zone and Areas and is open to the West of England Combined Authority and the four unitary authorities – ourselves, Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council.
The Portishead to Bristol rail line is expected to unlock an estimated £43m in economic growth each year, making this additional £3m contribution a worthwhile investment.
It will allow sustainable access to jobs and opportunities across the country for many years to come.
Economic Development Funding can only be used to support capital spending and so is not available to support our ongoing revenue spending.
Using this Economic Development Fund will not incur any additional revenue costs for us.
Read more about the rules and restrictions on how we spend our budget on our website.