Construction work is underway on a new railway station to link Portway Park & Ride with the Severn Beach railway line in Bristol.

Bristol City Council and Network Rail are working together to build the first new railway station in the city in 95 years.

The £4.2 million project at the Portway Park & Ride site in Shirehampton forms part of the West of England Combined Authority's wider plans to enhance the local rail network through the MetroWest programme.

The station is being jointly funded by Bristol City Council, the West of England Combined Authority, and the UK Government’s Department for Transport.

Portway Park & Ride will be the first new railway station to be delivered as part of the MetroWest programme, and the first new station to be launched in Bristol since Parson Street station was opened in 1927.

Network Rail completed preparatory work in December, ready for the first stage of construction to get underway. This includes replacing the safety fencing along the railway line, installing a ramp down to the tracks, and excavating the area of the platform in preparation for laying the foundations.

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Much of the work will be carried out overnight to reduce disruption to rail passengers. However, the Severn Beach line will need to close temporarily from 19 to 27 February, to allow Network Rail’s team of engineers to make the changes to the signalling needed to accommodate the new station and build the concrete foundations in preparation for the new platform. Improvements to drainage along the railway line will also be made.

During this time, trains will not call at stations between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood, or between Severn Beach and Stapleton Road. A rail replacement bus service will be in operation and the Portway Park & Ride facility will remain open throughout the work with Park & Ride buses operating as usual.

When launched later this summer, the station will be served by the recently improved half-hourly services between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach. It will complement the existing Park & Ride bus service and be a useful extra transport option for the local community, as well as providing Park & Ride users from further afield a rail option to destinations along the Severn Beach line or for onward travel on the wider rail network from Bristol Temple Meads.

Bristol City Council is also planning improvements to its Park & Ride facility, including more parking spaces, following the opening of the new station.

Councillor Don Alexander, Bristol City Council's Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "It's really exciting to see work starting on the first new rail station within the city in almost a century, and this is a major milestone for the project.

"Portway Park & Ride station will improve connectivity to the rail network for the local community and more widely for users of our Park & Ride site, allowing many more people to choose to travel by rail to work, study and for leisure.

"It will help us to ease congestion on the roads in a sustainable way and reduce air pollution, as we work towards our ambitious goal to be carbon neutral and climate resilient by 2030."