News / Bristol Underground
Council has never proposed an underground system for Bristol, says transport chief
Bristol City Council’s cabinet member for transport has said the council never proposed an underground system for the city.
Speaking at the opening of the new Portway Park & Ride station on Monday, Don Alexander told Bristol24/7: “The media has spoken of an underground but actually what we’re talking about is a mass transit system that has underground sections where it needs to have underground sections.
“We’re not talking about and never were talking about replicating whatever London or somewhere else has.
is needed now More than ever
“But we do need a cheap, convenient, integrated transport system in Bristol so that people, especially from my ward [Avonmouth & Lawrence Weston] out on the edge of the city, can get to the centre quickly and conveniently, which is a challenge for them at the moment.”
The comments from Alexander come after a report published by West of England Combined Authority (WECA) said an underground system for the city would cost more than £18bn – and that there was “no clear way” to fund it.
Following the publication of the report, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees – who first revealed his hopes for a mass transport system for the city in 2017 – repeated his commitment to the project.
His spokesperson said: “The WECA report has already been discredited, due to a flawed brief which needlessly sought to put the entirety of the proposed network underground.
“Our projected costs are between £4-7 billion, because like in London, underground sections are only needed where a fully segregated overground solution is not possible.”
In March, Rees said how Tracy Babin (Labour mayor of West Yorkshire) is “talking about” a mass transit system and Gloucester is “talking about” a mass transit system.
He said at the time: “Newcastle has one. £19bn was the cost of one line (the Elizabeth Line) in London. If other places are asking for the best for their populations, I think we should ask for the best for ours.”
Delivering a mass transit system was also one of Rees’ campaign pledges in 2020 and he has published blogs with titles such as “All aboard Bristol’s Underground” and “Mass transit: Bristol’s underground studies”.
The Elizabeth Line in London cost £19bn with the upper estimate of an underground for Bristol approaching this figure – photo: Martin Booth
Rees was also due to be speaking at the opening of the new train station in Bristol – the first in almost a century – on Monday, alongside WECA mayor Dan Norris and government transport secretary Mark Harper.
But Alexander, who spoke in place of Rees, said he “don’t know” why the mayor couldn’t make it.
“He asked me to come here and I’m very delighted to be here because it’s my ward,” he said.
“I guess he was supposed [to be here], but he asked me to stand in for him and that’s not unusual. I’ve stood in for him on many occasions at other events.”
Rees’ absence came after he lost out to Damien Egan to become Labour’s candidate in the new Bristol North East constituency on Sunday.
Main photo & videos: Charlie Watts
Read next:
- Section of secret report into plans for Bristol underground released
- Rees admits underground dream may not survive after he leaves office
- ‘Marvin Rees could still make it to Westminster – but in the Lords not the Commons’
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
