£15m could be spent on Bristol underground study despite it being 'unlikely' to be built

The West of England metro mayor has denied “blowing millions” on studies exploring the costs of an underground network - despite it being "unlikely" to ever be built.

Mayor Dan Norris confirmed £15million will be spent on a study exploring the costs and benefits of an metro network in Bristol. Four lines are proposed, some of which would be built underground.

He spending the money is "sensible", but later clarified the cash is "earmarked" but not yet "allocated".

The £15million was first promised by Bristol mayor Marvin Rees at the end of last year.

Speaking to the BBC on 31 May, Mr Norris said the West of England Combined Authority is still going to spend £15million on the study into Bristol Transport. But he also added the underground is very unlikely to ever be built due to its staggering costs.

He said: “What I want to do is allow that work to complete. At the moment we have to do a cost-benefit analysis of all the different options that are currently being considered, one of which is the underground system that Marvin’s keen on.

“Underground [rail] is hugely expensive and the whole economic situation has changed. Governments have been giving money away to subsidise energy bills for us all, which is the right thing to do in my view, but means that money isn’t there to build transport systems.”

Estimates for the total cost of an underground network have varied from £4billion to £18billion.

Mr Rees first announced his plans for a Bristol underground in 2017, but six years later no construction work has yet begun.

Last month, Mr Rees said his flagship project might not survive after his second term running Bristol City Council ends in May next year.

Mr Norris denied that the West of England was “blowing millions of pounds” on exploring the costs and benefits of an underground network. When asked if he was still going to spend £15 million on the controversial underground study, he said that it was “the right thing to do”.

He said: “We’ve got enough money to carry on that work for now. I think it’s so unlikely as to be not possible. I just think the cost is too vast based on the information we’ve seen so far. But we still continue to look at all the different options that are being considered, because that’s the sensible and right thing to do.

“What we’re not going to do is blow millions of pounds doing work if it’s obvious that it’s not the right thing.

"But I’m not committing any money to anything that isn’t purposeful. If it’s going to come up with a conclusion that I already know the answer to, then I’m not wasting that money.”

Credit: Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service