Transport in Bristol

It is a major centre of employment, retail, culture and higher education, has many historic areas, and has a history of maritime industry.

Bristol Airport (BRS), about 8 miles (13 km) south-west of the city centre, has services to major European destinations.

Usage of the line has more than doubled since the early 2000s,[4] but still only a small percentage of Bristol residents use rail for commuting.

[5] High frequency commuter services operate between Bristol and Bath, serving the intermediate stations of Keynsham and Oldfield Park.

[7] The Filton Bank from central to north Bristol was returned to quadruple track in 2018 to allow for improvements to local and long distance services.

[9][10] Work began in 2022 on a new station on the Severn Beach line for the Portway park & ride site, west of the city and close to the M5 motorway.

[12] The Portishead Railway was closed in the Beeching Axe but was relaid between 2000 and 2002 as far as the Royal Portbury Dock with a Strategic Rail Authority rail-freight grant.

Plans to reinstate a further three miles of track to Portishead, a dormitory town with only one connecting road, are underway, with services to be initially one train per hour.

[13] There are also plans to reopen parts of the Henbury Loop Line to passengers, including a station at a new housing development with connections to the future Bristol Arena.

[14] Public transport within the city is still largely bus-based, with majority of local bus services operated by First West of England.

The services run the length of the harbour from Hotwells to Bristol Temple Meads railway station via SS Great Britain and The Centre, serving 15 landing stages.

During 2006 plans have been considered to extend the existing A4174 ring road to improve transport links in the south.

Several other commuter towns also lie on major routes radiating from the city, including Weston-super-Mare on the A370 and Portishead on the A369.

[22] The dormitory towns of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead, which have good connections to the M5 but poor public transport systems, contribute to the congestion, and have growing populations.

Since 2000 the city council has included a light rail system in its Local Transport Plan, but has so far been unable to fund the project.

[34] In November 2016, the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership began a consultation process on their Transport Vision Summary Document, outlining potential light rail/tram routes from the city centre to Bristol Airport, the eastern and north west fringes of the city, and a route along the A4 road to Bath.

[41] A new MetroBus route between Cribbs Causeway and Bristol Parkway is planned to start operating in Spring 2023.