EXCLUSIVE: Tram network for Bristol and Bath "being taken seriously"
A public consultation is set to take place later this year
Last updated 15th Feb 2021
The West of England Combined Authority {WECA} is seriously considering building a tram network for Bristol and Bath.
That's what a campaign group The Bath and Bristol Area Trams Association {BBATA) claims.
It comes with WECA currently working on what it calls a West of England Mass Transit Project alongside other local authorities, to establish how transport systems across the region can be improved.
In a recent press release the BBATA says after many meetings with officials from WECA, as well as Bath and North East Somerset Council and Bristol City Council, they can confirm their recommendations for a modern trams system are being taken seriously.
They claim the system will feature four lines as follows:
- Line One: Along the route of the A4 from Temple Meads to Bath
- Line 2 To North Bristol & South Gloucester
- Line 3 Between Bristol Airport to Bristol Temple Meads
- Line 4 Into East Bristol
"WECA holds the keys to funding for transport in the region and it looks as if after years of providing high-quality advice, including much well-informed technical information from BBATA about the relative merits of buses and trams (seminars, conferences, etc) that effort is now paying dividends," the BBATA press release reads.
David Andrews Chair of BBATA said “we have conclusively demonstrated that only a tram / light-rail system can deliver a low carbon, low pollution economic regeneration of our towns and cities.
"This has already been found to be the case in 8 other UK cities, with trams / light-rail at the heart of the systems integrated with feeder buses for rural areas and lightly trafficked routes”.
Their press release continues: "BBATA fully supports the new vision from the WECA and the Bristol Mayor and looks forward to working with them to achieve this long overdue initiative, at speed.
"Other city regions such as Manchester, Croydon, Edinburgh, Blackpool, Docklands, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Sheffield, already experience the many benefits that trams bring (Nottingham has one of the lowest pollution levels of any UK city due in a large part to its trams) and we are delighted that Bristol and Bath will now be joining them."
However when contact by us, WECA denied that trams are being considered more seriously than any other method to improve transport links.
They do add though that residents will be asked for their opinion sometime later this year.
"No decisions on possible modes of transport have been made yet," their statement reads.
"This is the early stage of the project to understand what mass transit might look like, how much it would cost and consider what is the most appropriate mass transit technology for region.
"Following this early work, a public consultation will be held later in 2021."
Regional Mayor Tim Bowles told us: “I’m putting an end to decades of under-investment in our transport network to get our region moving.
"From our regional mass transit system, to our transformational MetroWest rail network and continued support for metrobus, we are providing the sort of sustainable transport network that a region like ours needs.
"All of this work, especially the Mass Transit system, is being based on the evidence of what is the most appropriate technologies for the West of England and my officers and I have been researching a variety of potential options for a number of years.”