North Somerset MP will "try everything" to get Portishead rail line reopened
Sadik Al Hassan says the town deserves a line, after the government scrapped the funding pot due to pay for it
North Somerset’s new Labour MP has insisted he will “try everything” to make sure the Labour government does not cancel plans to reopen the railway to Portishead — but could not commit to voting against it.
A major project to reopen the railway, which was closed in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, and build new stations in Pill and Portishead had been set to begin this year — but the Restoring Your Railway scheme which had been set to fund it was axed by the government earlier this month in a bid to save £80 million. Now a review by the transport secretary will decide which railway and station reopenings should still go ahead.
Speaking to supporters of the Portishead railway at a rally organised by Bristol Rail Campaign outside Bristol Temple Meads, North Somerset MP Sadik Al-Hassan insisted he would fight to deliver the railway to people in Portishead and Pill.
He said: “They deserve a line and I will fight for a line.
“I will try every single door — whether it opens or not. I will try every single avenue. I already have had a lot of conversations with my cabinet colleagues, and the people who actually do the work, the PPSs parliamentary private secretaries, … because it’s important to get this decision for North Somerset.
“I know how important it is for North Somerset and I want North Somerset to know how important it is for me. I will try everything to make sure we get the stations we deserve and were promised, without any further delays because that’s what’s killed this line again and again, decade after decade.”
He added: “This is an important project that needs to happen and I will fight for it.”
Mr Al-Hassan defeated Liam Fox to become North Somerset’s first ever Labour MP in this year’s general election. Less than a month later, he found out that his party could be cutting the constituency’s popular railway reopening project when he read it in the Sunday Times.
Challenged by one person at the rally on whether he would be prepared to vote against scrapping it, Mr Al-Hassan said: “I would prefer it never to get to that point. … It depends on what else is on the table.” He added: “There could be swings and roundabouts.”
Asked if he would call a Westminster Hall debate on the issue, he said: “I have not exhausted the options I have got yet. … You are more likely to get an outcome from talking to somebody one-on-one.”
About 35 people from Poritshead, Pill, and Bristol gathered for the rally outside Bristol Temple Meads, where the line would terminate, on the evening of August 27. Meanwhile about 2,000 people have signed Portishead Railway Group’s paper petition calling on the government to ensure the necessary funding is provided to reopen the line.
The project’s price tag of £152m had been funded by the West of England Combined Authority, Department for Transport, and North Somerset Council, but contributions from the Department for Transport would have come from the Restoring Your Railway fund. Although the leader of North Somerset Council, Mike Bell (Weston-super-Mare Central, Liberal Democrat) has insisted the council is “absolutely committed” to the “shovel-ready” scheme, it is in limbo until the government review decides whether to continue funding it.
Peter Maliphant of Portishead Rail Group told the rally: “We find ourselves once again with a big hurdle to cross and if we don’t get that funding from central government, I’m not quite sure what the future looks like. If we do get it, Portishead is a … grant-ready project.” He said that trains could be running in two years, if the funding was made available.
The project only requires just over three miles of new track, as the line as far as Pill has already been restored but is only used by freight trains and the occasional nostalgic steam train.
Bob Wring, a Pill local who attended the rally, said he had a three and a half hour journey to visit friends up North coming up — but an hour of that would just be getting to Bristol. On the railway, it would take about 15 minutes to get to Bristol Temple Meads.
Seven Green and Labour councillors from Bristol City Council were also among those who attended. David Willcox (Lockleaze, Green) said: “Bristol City Council is fully supportive of reopening the Portishead line.” Tim Rippington (Brislington East, Labour) urged people: “Keep the faith. It will happen.”
Reopening the Portishead railway is a part of the Metrowest project, a major scheme to increase the frequency of local trains across the West of England and wider area, and to reopen the lines to Portishead and Henbury.
Public transport campaigner David Redgewell urged people to attend the West of England Combined Authority’s committee meetings on September 20 — a regular regional summit of local government leaders — to show their support for the reopening of the railway.
Next Saturday (September 7) it will be 60 years to the day that Portishead and Pill stations were closed.