Council committed to reopening railway despite cuts

The project has been delayed multiple times due to budget restrictions and environmental concerns

A council has said it is "absolutely committed" to reopening a railway line to passengers after the government announced budget cuts to several large projects.

Plans to bring the railway back to Portishead are under threat after the new Labour government announced earlier it was axing the scheme that was funding it.

After claiming to have found a £22bn black hole left in the country’s finances by the Conservatives, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has set out major cuts in Parliament.

She told the House: “The spending audit has revealed £1bn of unfunded transport projects that have been committed to next year.”

The Portishead branch line shut in 1964 but the railway was not dismantled

She said the transport secretary would "undertake a thorough review" of these commitments.

"If we cannot afford it, we cannot do it.”

The Restoring Your Railway programme was funding the project to restore the Portishead Line to Bristol, with new stations to be built in the town centre and in Pill, as part of the Metrowest mass transportation project.

Reacting to the announcement, leader of North Somerset Council Mike Bell said the scheme was "hugely important" and "one that will make a significant difference to the lives of local people".

“We remain absolutely committed to reopening the line and Network Rail were shortly due to submit our Full Business Case to the Department for Transport.

"Full Business Case approval is the final step needed before we can get spades in the ground for construction."

Rachel Reeves announced budget cuts in the House of Commons on Monday

Mr Bell added that it had taken "years of hard work to come this far" and that the council had secured an extra £15.5m in funding from the Department for Transport, whilst pledging of a further £10m of its own.

He continued: “Though we understand the difficult decisions facing national government, we believe there continues to be a strong case for the investment into the Portishead to Bristol rail line," adding it was a "shovel-ready scheme".

"We just need government support to make it happen."

The Restoring Your Railway programme had also been set to fund new stations in Wellington, Cullompton, and Langport or Somerton.

The MP for Taunton and Wellington, Gideon Amos, said he had been assured by Ms Reeves that the new Wellington Railway Station, which has already received stage four investment funding, will still go ahead.

A new station was due to be opened at Pill

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, North Somerset’s first ever Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan, who was elected earlier this month, said at the weekend he was “distressed” to hear the Portishead project was at risk.

Writing to the treasury and transport secretary, he said improving transport in his constituency was "immensely important" to him.

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

The Portishead link’s price tag of £152m had been partly funded by the Department for Transport (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 would be down to the DfT to cover any unexpected extra costs going forward, including operational and mobilisation costs, and any financial liabilities relating to the operation of the train service.

No timeframe has yet been set out for the review which will decide which projects can go ahead.

Additional reporting by Bea Swallow