News / Transport
Exploring options for mass transit ‘without significant tunnelling’
The next steps for a planned mass transit system in the wider Bristol area will explore options “without significant tunnelling”.
Due to the expensive costs of digging tunnels, transport planners will now consider how to build a mass transit network without going underground.
Three council leaders and the West of England metro mayor are likely to give their approval on Friday to progress plans to the next stage.
is needed now More than ever
A report will then be prepared for September, which will detail potential routes that could be built in a multi-billion pound investment in public transport.
For years Bristol’s politicians debated whether to build an underground rail network, favoured by former Labour mayor Marvin Rees, or a tram network, backed by the Greens – who largely took control of Bristol City Council in May.
Now that Rees has gone, trams appear more likely, with Labour councillors including Tim Rippington saying he is more keen for a tram service after a visit to Nottingham which has a citywide network of trams.
“I find it hard to believe that we can’t all come together and deliver a scheme for Bristol which would provide similar benefits,” tweeted the councillor for Brislington East.
Labour councillor for Southmead, Kaz Self, also tweeted her qualified support for trams: “I’m not against trams in the right places. But over my dead body will there be a ?up the Gloucester Road!”
A West of England Combined Authority report said: “Due to the strategic importance of this project and the contribution it will make in achieving economic growth and environmental improvements for the region, it is vital the project progresses.
“The preliminary costings included in the strategic outline case for options that involve significant tunnelling are substantial.
“Given the current financial constraints nationally, with the chancellor’s speech on July 8 confirming that the new government had inherited the ‘worst set of circumstances since the Second World War’, combined with the lack of a long-term funding settlement, could be considered to be unaffordable.
“Therefore, as part of a pragmatic approach, officers will develop proposals to enable the progression to outline business case stage, of route options that do not involve significant tunnelling for consideration, by the committee in September 2024.”
London’s Elizabeth Line cost £19bn with an underground rail network in Bristol costing up to £18bn according to one report – photo: Martin Booth
There are three main reasons why the region’s politicians want to build a mass transit network:
- Giving people an alternative to driving would reduce pollution, including carbon emissions which cause climate change and nitrogen dioxide which harms human health.
- Providing faster and more reliable routes would boost the region’s economy, which is hamstrung by congestion.
- And connecting left-behind parts of the region would create better access to jobs and education.
An underground for Bristol was first proposed by Rees in 2017. Then in October 2023, Dan Norris, the Labour West of England mayor, vetoed the idea, raising concerns about costs.
Rees often said trams would force some main roads, like Gloucester Road, to be closed to cars, pushing traffic onto nearby residential roads, which would not happen with an underground.
Main photo: TRAM Barcelona
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