Unclear how additional £15m for mass transit will be spent

An extra £15m will be spent on planning Bristol’s new mass transit system, including an underground rail network.

But it’s currently unclear what the additional money, announced by the mayor at his annual state of the city address, will actually be spent on.

Plans for the mass transit system were first revealed in 2017 and would see four new overground and underground lines, as well as segregated bus routes and new train stations.

In 2018, Bristol City Council estimated it would cost £4bn to build.

Construction work on the new rail network was initially due to begin this year but has been beset by delays.

Now, mayor Marvin Rees has pledged to spend a further £15m on the mass transit system but declined to give details about how that money will be spent.

During his state of the city address, Rees said: “We have continued the work to build a mass transit system that will transform the way we move around the city region. The economic and geological assessment work has been done.

“We are about to commit a further £15m with our neighbours to take this work to the next stage. Overground and underground networks are fast, efficient, low carbon transport systems.

“They are essential for a modern, crowded city. Bristolians have waited long enough.”

Rather than digging tunnels or buying trains, the £15m could likely go towards paying transport consultants to write a ‘strategic outline business case’, one of a series of detailed documents needed to unlock the necessary billions in funding.

A major public consultation is also expected soon on several options for the mass transit system.

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Read more: Finding a sensible solution to Bristol’s transport woes

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Both Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) were asked exactly what the £15m will be spent on, but the council did not respond to questions.

West of England metro mayor Dan Norris said he has asked to meet with ministers in the new government and would discuss the mass transit system with them.

Norris said: “Of course we need better public transport across Bristol and the West of England. That’s why I was pleased to secure the highest per person transport settlement in the country last year which will predominantly be spent on buses.

“However, the kind of long-term government investment for a bells and whistles transport system would be around 20 times more than that. While inflation is sky high and we are saddled with a Tory government that crashed the economy and which is embarking on another huge round of cuts, we have to be realistic.

“I have requested meetings with the latest set of reshuffled ministers and will be seeing the transport and levelling up ones soon to assess their current thinking. I agree with getting schemes ‘shovel ready’, which involves necessary consultation and investment concentrating on four key corridors bringing people in and out of Bristol.”

Details of how the £15m of taxpayer money will be spent could be revealed in new reports to WECA at some point over the next few months.

Rees did not respond to a request for an interview on the mass transit system.

Alex Seabrook is a local democracy reporter for Bristol 

Main image: Bristol City Council 

Read next:

• Mayor promises to steer ahead with underground railway
• Funding for Bristol’s mass transit system at risk
• Why train station by Bristol’s new arena has been delayed

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