Funding granted for new Bristol railway station

The station will be built at Portway park and ride

A project to create a new railway station in Bristol has received £1.5m in funding.

A single platform station is planned at the Portway on the Severn Beach line between Avonmouth and Shirehampton.

The money has been allocated from the government's Getting Building Fund (GBF).

A council spokesperson said work was set to start on site at the end of this year and construction would be completed "in the summer of 2021".

A report to Bristol City Council in December revealed the cost of building the new station faced a £1m shortfall.

Development work saw the project costs rise to between £3.4m and £3.6m, with track drainage, lighting, walkways and passenger waiting shelters cited as reasons for the rise.

West of England Combined Authority has received a total of £13.7m from the GBF for a range of projects in the area.

A scheme in Keynsham to make the high street one-way and provide more space for walking and cycling will also get funding.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: "As we get Britain building we are also laying the foundations for a green economic recovery by investing in vital infrastructure for local communities, creating jobs and building environmentally-friendly homes with a huge £1.3 billion investment."

But Darren Jones, Labour MP for Bristol North West, tweeted he has "lost track" of the amount of times this announcement has been made by the government and said the money released does not provide enough for Bristol's transport ambitions.