Marvin Rees says he does not know if his long-held ambition for a Bristol Underground will survive after he leaves office next year. The city mayor, whose term ends in May 2024 along with the elected mayoral role, also admitted that the cost of a mass transit system with sections of overground and tunnels where this was not possible was roughly double the reported price tag of £4billion when he first announced the idea in 2017.
Labour metro mayor Dan Norris, who leads the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) which is responsible for strategic transport, gave a categoric “No” when asked on BBC Points West in February if the region would ever get an underground.
Days later, an unpublished report leaked to the Local Democracy Reporting Service concluded that the scheme would cost between £15billion and £18billion – estimates dismissed by fellow Labour mayor Mr Rees whose office said it “totally rejects the report and its content” which it blamed on a “deeply flawed” approach by Weca.
