NORTH Somerset Council said it remains committed to reopening the Portishead to Bristol rail line, despite news that the government have cancelled the Restoring Your Railway programme.

Rail schemes within the programme will now be subject to review by the Secretary of State for Transport.

This follows announcements from the Treasury that numerous infrastructure projects across the country will be paused or cancelled as a means of tackling financial challenges in the national budget.

The Portishead to Bristol rail line is one of the Department for Transport’s Restoring Your Railway projects and is part of the MetroWest programme.

By connecting 50,000 residents back into the rail network with stops at Portishead and Pill, the line stands to be transformative for North Somerset and the wider area, providing regular, sustainable transport and greater access to regional growth.

Councillor Mike Bell, leader of North Somerset Council and executive member for Major Projects, said: “The Portishead to Bristol rail line is a hugely important scheme for us and one that will make a significant difference to the lives of local people, both now and in the future.

“We remain absolutely committed to reopening the line and Network Rail were shortly due to submit our Full Business Case to the Department for Transport.

“Full Business Case approval is the final step needed before we can get spades in the ground for construction.

“It’s taken years of hard work to come this far. We were the country’s first passenger scheme to secure a Development Consent Order to re-open a branch line.

“We’ve risen to financial challenges created by inflation and rising costs across the construction industry, securing an extra £15.5m in funding from the Department for Transport, whilst pledging of a further £10m of our own.

“Though we understand the difficult decisions facing national government, we believe there continues to be a strong case for the investment into the Portishead to Bristol rail line.

“This is a shovel-ready scheme that we can deliver – and for which on-the-ground preparatory work has already begun. We just need government support to make it happen.

“Alongside the West of England Combined Authority and Network Rail, we will continue to make the case for this project and work with the new MP for North Somerset constituency, Sadik Al-Hassan, to do everything we can to secure support from the Department for Transport.”