News / Transport
Rees commits to press ahead with £4bn underground plans
Four billion pounds – the estimated figure of how much Crossrail has gone over budget – is the cost of bringing an underground railway to Bristol.
Marvin Rees envisages the city’s mass transit scheme to run separately to other traffic and be made up of several different types of transport including segregated bus routes and park & rides.
But the most eye-catching plan is for underground sections of railway and it will be this that takes up the bulk of the costs if funding can be secured.
is needed now More than ever
“It’s an exciting project and we all need to be part of the journey,” said Rees when unveiling a new map of Bristol’s public transport network vision.
It will take up to 15 years to complete the full network, according to the mayor’s estimates, with new stations in places including Ashton Gate, Hareclive Road and Lockleaze.
Bristol City Council will need to work closely with the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and neighbouring councils in Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset if plans for the mass transit lines are to become a reality.
WECA has already invested £1.5m to look into options for mass transit and investigate and develop possible routes, with Rees saying that he has talked about “the full-scale of our ambition” with government ministers.
Around 50 per cent of the funding for Bristol’s mass transit system could come from Westminster, with Rees saying it will be a mix of public-private investment.
He said: “Just like any other regeneration project, you go to government and you go to the international stage to source the financing expertise that is required.”
The lonely Cumberland Basin metrobus stop could be surrounded by new homes as part of Marvin Rees’ Western Harbour plans – photo: Martin Booth
On a new page on their website dedicated to the plans, Bristol City Council say that their “next goal is to bring in a mix of over and underground mass transit lines running separately to other traffic”.
“By increasing the use of public transport, we can build a case for government and private organisations to invest in a low carbon, reliable transport network.
“This will:
- “connect people in Bristol and the surrounding areas to each other, jobs, education and leisure
- “help us meet the challenges of a growing population
- “help us meet our environmental targets”
Rees added: “We are a modern city… We are a serious city now. The idea we are a city that can’t get things done, we have got to move beyond that. Of course we can build a mass transit system here.”
Main image: Bristol City Council
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