Bristol Parkway Metrobus expansion to get £56m boost

Some £56m in funding has been put in place to expand Bristol's Metrobus network.

The Cribbs-Patchway route will link the city's Parkway railway station to the shopping centre at Cribbs Causeway.

It will also take in the former Filton airfield site, where 2,500 homes are due to be built. A railway bridge will also be replaced at Gipsy Patch Lane.

The West of England Combined Authority approved proposals subject to costs and "securing the necessary land".

The group, which consists of Bristol City, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North Somerset councils, discussed a number of other proposals at its meeting on Friday, including a new £3.5m Park and Ride in Yate, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It also agreed a further £3.5m to provide extra rail infrastructure by the end of 2021.

West of England Mayor Tim Bowles said more than 70,000 people use the Metrobus system each week and the region needed to be "ambitious to meet the needs of the future".

"The Cribbs Patchway metrobus extension will improve access to a number of existing and future employment sites including Rolls Royce, Horizon 38, Filton Enterprise Area and Cribbs Causeway," he said.

"The project will also improve access for existing and planned residential developments in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and the Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood."

The Metrobus network currently consists of three services. No tickets are sold on board which operators say means "faster boarding and shorter journey times".