UK railway line to run trains again after 60 years as £152m project green lit | UK | News

A key UK railway line is set to run passenger services once again after being shut for 60 years.

The Portishead to Bristol route was opened in 1867, and then closed in 1964 as part of a mass culling known as the Beeching cuts.

Richard Beeching was Chairman of the British Railways Board who ordered the axeing of thousands of miles of railway and stations in an effort to make the country’s network more efficient.

Now, a battle that has raged for a quarter of a century to reopen the West Country route has been borne out.

The West of England’s Mayor, Dan Norris, has confirmed that a project to make the line operational again will begin in the summer.

Two stations will be built as part of the £152million reopening project.

These will be at Portishead and Pill.

It comes after the hopes of the line’s revival suffered a set back last year as the work was previously to be funded under the Restoring Your Railway fund.

However, this scheme was cancelled last summer after the Labour government assumed power.

But now, it has been confirmed that a final installment of £30million that makes sure things get over the line will be rubber stamped in March at a West of England Mayoral Combined Authority committee meeting, New Civil Engineer reports.

The more than £152million cash pot has been contributed towards by the government, the West of England Authority, and North Somerset Council.

The final gap is set to be filled by a national infrastructure fund.

Mr Norris has said that the reopening the line will be a “really important” step for residents.

He added: “The last time you could catch a train along this line was before a man walked on the moon… This is a really important project that will see communities in south Bristol and across our city reconnected to Portishead and help in our vital quest for net-zero.”