New Bristol Portway railway station costs facing £1m shortfall

Portway park and ride will be home to Bristol's first new railway station in 20 years

The cost of building a new railway station in Bristol is facing a shortfall of £1m.

Development work on Portway station has seen the cost of the project rise to between £3.4m and £3.6m, a report to the city council has revealed.

Track drainage, lighting and walkways and an extra passenger waiting shelter are cited as key reasons for the rise.

The station, located on the line between Avonmouth and Shirehampton, is expected to open in December 2020.

There will also be a longer platform than originally proposed to "future-proof" the station for bigger trains, so it can serve the Severn Beach line.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the council would ask West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to re-allocate £1m already earmarked for Bristol projects to pay for the shortfall.