Council short on up to £50m for new railway line

Up to £50m is still needed to open railway line between Bristol and Portishead, a councillor has said.

North Somerset Council leaders have approved measures to start construction on the line but council leader Mike Bell says the project is still £30-50m short.

Plans to bring the line back came under threat when the Labour government announced it was axing the scheme that was funding it. The Department for Transport (DfT) said it is working with the council as it considers the proposals.

Bell said: "It's all been done, all the hard graft over many many years has been gone through and we just need the funding approval from central government."

He added: "We do need a bit more money to get us over the line, which is always a sticking point."

Bell said the council had been "stuck in a doom loop", as the government's delay in making a decision had increased the costs.

"Now is the time to break that loop," Bell added.

"We've got a good business case. We just need a quick decision."

Restoring the line requires about three miles (5km) of new track.

It was going to be funded by the Restoring Your Railway programme, before it was axed, with new stations to be built in the town centre and in Pill, as part of the Metrowest mass transportation project.

The Portishead link's price tag of £152m was set to have been partly funded by the DfT, which paid upfront costs of around £45m as part of the Restoring Your Railway fund.

This was accompanied by additional funding from the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) and North Somerset Council.

However, it will be down to the DfT to cover extra costs going forward.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "The government inherited an extremely challenging financial position, including almost £3 billion in unfunded transport projects.

"The Department has contributed £13.8 million to fund the project's business case and we continue to work with the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council as we consider these proposals."

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