Portishead Railway decision expected in Spending Review announcement
The Chancellor will confirm if any money will go towards the project from government.
The future of the Portishead Railway is set to be decided by Rachel Reeve’s spending review on Wednesday.
In February, local political leaders struck a deal with the Department for Transport to fund the reopening of the railway.
Local government agreed to put up £30m — but the government’s contribution will form part of the Chancellor’s spending review on Wednesday.
The project will see new stations built in Portishead and Pill and the line, which closed to passengers in 1964, connecting the town and village to Bristol Temple Meads once again.
The line as far as Pill has already been restored — although work would need to be carried out on this stretch of the line to make the track suitable for passenger trains and not just freight.
The West of England’s Labour Metro Mayor Helen Godwin told the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week that she was “absolutely” confident it was still looking positive.
The project has faced setbacks from the Chancellor’s announcements before.
The government’s contribution was originally due to come from the Conservative government’s Restoring Your Railway Fund but shortly after the election Ms Reeves announced that this was being cut, leaving the scheme in limbo for months until local political leaders’ meeting with the DfT in February.