MetroWest (Bristol)
| Greater Bristol Metro | |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | No |
| Type of project | Passenger rail transport pressure group |
| Location | Greater Bristol |
| Owner |
Bath and North East Somerset Council Bristol City Council North Somerset Council South Gloucestershire Council |
| Website | travelwest |
MetroWest, formerly known as the Greater Bristol Metro, is a proposal to improve the rail services in Bristol, England, and the surrounding region. It was first proposed at First Great Western's Stakeholder Event in March 2008. The aim of the project is to develop half-hourly services through central Bristol which will also serve the surrounding West of England region. Transport campaigning group, Transport for Greater Bristol are actively supporting the proposal, as are the four unitary authorities. Services are expected to start in 2019 for phase 1 and 2021 for phase 2.
Earlier plans for a metro system were promoted by then MEP Richard Cottrell in 1986 and acts of Parliament were secured. This would have used existing track with new build through the city centre. However the scheme folded when Advanced Transport for Avon was wound up with debts of £3.8 million.
Rail usage in the West of England doubled in the 10 years, 1999 to 2009. The campaign's website was officially launched in February 2012. Improvement plans have been prepared by engineering consultancy Halcrow Group.
MetroWest aims to ease this congestion and to attract people who currently use cars onto the railway. Additional aims of the scheme are to support housing and employment along the rail corridors between Weston-super-Mare to Yate, and Cardiff to Bath. The reported "key aspects" are:
A network map published by the four unitary authorities on the travelwest.info website shows the two phases of the proposed network.
The scheme was estimated to cost £22 million at 2008/09 prices and could be completed between 2016 and 2021.
Station reopening costs stated in 2012 have been estimated by Bristol City Council to be an average of £5 million each. Related estimates for reopening of the Portishead Railway and for four-tracking between Parson Street and Filton Bank were reported as approximately £50 million and £30 million respectively. It was subsequently reported that the Portishead Railway reopening would cost around £33 million. In April 2016, it was reported by North Somerset Times that the North Somerset Council had agreed to buy two pieces of land for the creation of the Portishead and Pill stations at the cost of £880,000.
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