Work will begin on Bristol’s underground by 2030, says Rees

Marvin Rees has laid out how the Bristol region’s long-awaited mass transit system will start to take shape by the end of the decade.

The city mayor says diggers should move in to begin work by 2029/30 on schemes involving both overground and underground routes.

He spoke at a city council cabinet meeting where members formally accepted Bristol’s allocation of £191million for public transport projects from the Government’s City Regions Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) over the next five years to the West of England Combined Authority (Weca).

They also approved a 20 per cent local contribution from Bristol City Council of £38.2m which is required to unlock the money, such as £48million for the M32 strategic corridor, including an as-yet unidentified location for a park and ride, at the meeting on Tuesday, April 5.

Improvements to public transport routes, the Long Ashton Metrobus service and Bristol to Hengrove Metrobus line, as well as making railway stations more accessible and delivering two ‘liveable neighbourhood’ pilot schemes, are promised but will all need business cases signed off by WECA.

A map that shows where and how the council want mass transit lines to run – image: Bristol City Council

Rees said: “There has been some political gaming, political naysaying about mass transit but it’s a very straightforward process.

“You put the best on the table, you clearly set out what the best is for Bristol as a city with the greater Bristol area with 1.2m-and-rising people, which is predictable, segregated, decarbonised transport that gets people around the city, connects them to each other and to opportunity and supports us economically and culturally.

“You look at the possible ways of delivering that solution for the city. Then, having put all those solutions on the table, you begin to work through a process which will test a whole bunch of questions around those solutions you’re putting forward – overground, underground, whatever they are.

Rees says work will begin to install Bristol’s mass transit system within the decade – photo: Adam Postans

Rees said that until that process was done, “all options are possible until they are ruled out”.

The Labour mayor said: “It was so disheartening at the last full council meeting to hear people saying it can’t be done, even before we’ve tested whether or not it can be done. It’s so lacking in ambition for the city.

He was referring to a debate on a Green motion on March 15 calling on WECA to fully examine alternatives to an underground, such as trolley cars and trams, which received unanimous approval after Labour said that was already happening.

Everyone agreed a tube network was ““not the be all and end all” for the region’s mass transit system, while councillors from other opposition groups branded the idea of an underground “fanciful” and “pie in the sky”.

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

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Speaking at cabinet on Tuesday, he said the potential timeline for mass transit depended on levels of political support and focus across the region, and that early consultation on 19 different options for mass transit had already been delayed but should go out soon.

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read more: Rees: ‘There is no no time to fail or delay on delivering mass transit system’

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