The Portishead rail dream under threat of never happening

Plans to bring the railway back to Portishead are under threat after the new Labor government announced it was scrapping the scheme that funded it.

After claiming to have found a £22bn black hole left in the country’s finances by the Tories, Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out major cuts in Parliament today. She told the House: “The spending audit revealed £1 billion of unfunded transport projects that have been committed for next year, so my honorable friend the transport secretary will carry out a thorough review of these commitments.”

She added: “My honorable friend will also scrap the Restoring Our Railways (sic) programme, saving £85m next year, with individual projects being assessed through her assessment. If we can’t afford it, we can’t do it.”

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Portishead station closed in the 1960s, but the Restoring Your Railway program was funding a project to restore the Portishead to Bristol line, with new stations to be built in the town center and Pill as part of the Metrowest mass transport project . . North Somerset Council unanimously approved the plans in January.

But now – on the eve of when it was hoped the scheme could start construction – the future of the project has been thrown into doubt. A timeframe has not yet been set for the review that will decide which projects can move forward.

Reacting to the announcement, leader of North Somerset Council, Cllr Mike Bell, said: “The Portishead-Bristol rail line is a hugely important scheme for us and one that will make a significant difference to the lives of local people, both now and in the future.

“We remain absolutely committed to reopening the line and Network Rail were due to submit our full business case to the Department for Transport shortly. Full approval of the business case is the final step required before we can break ground on construction.

“It took years of hard work to get this far. We were the first passenger scheme in the country to obtain a development consent order to reopen a secondary line. We have met the financial challenges created by inflation and rising costs in the construction industry by securing an additional £15.5m of funding from the Department for Transport, while committing a further £10m own.

“While we understand the difficult decisions facing the National Government, we believe there continues to be a strong case for investment in the Portishead-Bristol rail line. This is a shovel-ready scheme that we can deliver – and for which ground work has already started. We just need the support of the government to do this.

“Along with the West of England Combined Authority and Network Rail, we will continue to support this project and will work with the new MP for North Somerset, Sadik Al-Hassan, to do all we can to secure the support of part of the Department for Transport.”

North Somerset’s first Labor MP Sadik Al-Hassan, who was elected earlier this month, said at the weekend he was “saddened” to hear the project was in jeopardy. Writing to the Treasury and Transport Secretary, he said: The project has been long overdue in the area and will help connect our towns of Portishead and Pill to the rail network through Bristol.

“I would like to raise my concerns with both of you about this matter. The reopening is part of Phase 1B of Metrowest and has received a development consent order with multiple partners involved in funding the £152m commitment and £32m already spent.

“This infrastructure project to improve transport in my constituency is hugely important to me and my constituents, so I’d like to work with you both to deliver it.”

Elsewhere in Somerset, the Restoring Your Railway program had also been set to fund new stations in Wellington, Cullompton and Langport or Somerton.

Tory shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt said Labour’s claims of a £22bn black hole were “bogus”.