Bristol YTL Arena inaccessible by train until 2026

Thousands of people travelling to the YTL arena won't be able to get there directly by train until 2026

A train station for Bristol's YTL arena will not be built in time for its opening, it has been confirmed.

North Filton station was due to open next year, before the arena opens in 2024, as a key part of the transport plan to get people to concerts.

However, the station is now expected to open in 2026, after delays were blamed on design changes.

Three existing stations are nearby, at Parkway, Filton and Patchway, but these are a 30-minute walk from the arena.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said another issue is how often the trains will run, with initial plans for just one service an hour.

North Filton Station is one of the three new stations opening over the next few years, with services running from Bristol Temple Meads to Ashley Down, the arena and Henbury.

The project, part of MetroWest phase 2, involves reopening an old railway line with newly built stations.

A source at the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) said delays to North Filton station were due to several changes.

These include needing to redesign a footbridge over the tracks, delays to the Henbury station - which affects North Filton as the two are being built together - and the need to do "value engineering and cost avoidance exercises" to keep project costs under control.

A spokesperson for YTL said: "YTL is working with Network Rail and Great Western Railway (GWR) on the frequency of trains, particularly on event days."

According to GWR, trains could eventually run every half hour to the new arena, but this depends on first getting the funding for the upgrades.

The current infrastructure cannot run a 15-minute train service, vastly reducing how many passengers can travel to and from gigs.

Additional reporting by Dawn Limbu

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