Work has started on the design of Bristol's first new railway station in over 20 years.
The £2.23m station is due to be completed in 2019 on a development site next to the existing Portway Park and Ride site near Avonmouth, which it will serve.
Work gets underway for the new station
A further £400,000 is earmarked for improvements to the Park and Ride site including a new amenity building to benefit both rail and bus passengers.
Bristol City Council secured £1.67m from the Government’s New Stations Fund for the scheme after working with Network Rail on developing the project.
The newly formed West of England Combined Authority and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is also chipping in cash for the project, as well as wider investment to better link the new station to the Park and Ride site.
Marvin Rees, mayor of Bristol, said: 'Securing this much-needed rail funding from the Government is great news for Bristol and it will help meet a long held aspiration to build a new station to serve the Portway Park & Ride site. It will complement the existing bus services which will continue to serve the city centre and encourage more people from a wider area to use these routes, reducing congestion and improving our air quality.'
The scheme forms part of a long-term rail strategy for the city region through the MetroWest programme. This includes improving frequencies on the Severn Beach Line, which will serve the new station by 2020.
Cllr Mhairi Threlfall, cabinet member for transport at Bristol City Council, added: 'The Portway scheme will play a critical role in improving access to both the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone and the Avonmouth Enterprise Area, which are anticipated to accommodate up to 31,000 new jobs over the next 25 years.'
Malcolm Parsons, director route business development at Network Rail, said: 'Securing the funding is the culmination of years of hard work and supports the wider upgrades being delivered in Bristol which includes the biggest signalling modernisation anywhere in the country, Filton Four Tracking and improvements to the Severn Beach Line.
'These upgrades will provide greater capacity, more frequent services and a more reliable railway with the new Portway Station further enhancing Bristol’s rail network.'
Bridgeway Consulting Limited is conducting the investigation works at the Portway new station site on behalf of Network Rail. The works will run until late September.
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