Marvin Rees has laid out how the Bristol region’s long-awaited mass transit system will start to take shape by the end of the decade. The city mayor says diggers should move in to begin work by 2029/30 on schemes involving both overground and underground routes.
He spoke at a city council cabinet meeting where members formally accepted Bristol’s allocation of £191million for public transport projects from the Government’s City Regions Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) over the next five years to the West of England Combined Authority (Weca). They also approved a 20 per cent local contribution from Bristol City Council of £38.2million which is required to unlock the money, such as £48million for the M32 strategic corridor, including an as-yet unidentified location for a park and ride, at the meeting on Tuesday, April 5.
Improvements to public transport routes, the Long Ashton Metrobus service and Bristol to Hengrove Metrobus line, as well as making railway stations more accessible and delivering two ‘liveable neighbourhood’ pilot schemes, are promised but will all need business cases signed off by Weca. Mr Rees said: “There has been some political gaming, political naysaying about mass transit but it’s a very straightforward process.
