Bristol

Bristol has two principal railway stations. Bristol Temple Meads is in the centre and sees mainly First Great Western services including regular high speed trains to London Paddington as well as other local and regional services and CrossCountry trains. Bristol Parkway is located to the north of the city and is mainly served by high speed First Great Western services between Cardiff and London, and CrossCountry services to Birmingham and the North East. There is also a limited service to London Waterloo from Bristol Temple Meads, operated by South West Trains. There are also scheduled coach links to most major UK cities. [177]

The city is connected by road on an east–west axis from London to West Wales by the M4 motorway, and on a north–southwest axis from Birmingham to Exeter by the M5 motorway. Also within the county is the M49 motorway, a short cut between the M5 in the south and M4 Severn Crossing in the west. The M32 motorway is a spur from the M4 to the city centre. [177]

The city is served by Bristol International Airport (BRS), at Lulsgate, which has seen substantial investments in its runway, terminal and other facilities since 2001. [177]

Public transport in the city consists largely of its bus network, provided mostly by First Group, formerly the Bristol Omnibus Company – other services are provided by Abus, [178] Buglers, [179] Ulink, [180] and Wessex Connect. [181] Buses in the city have been widely criticised for being unreliable and expensive, and in 2005 First was fined for delays and safety violations. [182] [183] Private car usage in Bristol is high, and the city suffers from congestion, which costs an estimated £350 million per year. [184] Bristol is motorcycle friendly; the city allows motorcycles to use most of the city's bus lanes, as well as providing secure free parking. [185] Since 2000 the city council has included a light rail system in its Local Transport Plan, but has so far been unwilling to fund the project. The city was offered European Union funding for the system, but the Department for Transport did not provide the required additional funding. [186] As well as support for public transport, there are several road building schemes supported by the local council, including re-routing and improving the South Bristol Ring Road. [187] There are also three park and ride sites serving the city, supported by the local council. [188] The central part of the city has water-based transport, operated by the Bristol Ferry Boat, Bristol Packet and Number Seven Boat Trips providing leisure and commuter services on the harbour. [189]

Bristol's principal surviving suburban railway is the Severn Beach Line to Avonmouth and Severn Beach. The Portishead Railway was closed to passengers under the Beeching Axe, but was relaid for freight only in 2000–2002 as far as the Royal Portbury Dock with a Strategic Rail Authority rail-freight grant. Plans to relay a further three miles (5 km) of track to Portishead, a largely dormitory town with only one connecting road, have been discussed but there is insufficient funding to rebuild stations. [190] Rail services in Bristol currently suffer from overcrowding and there is a proposal to increase rail capacity under the Greater Bristol Metro scheme. [191]

Bristol was named "England's first 'cycling city'" in 2008, [192] and is home to the sustainable transport charity Sustrans. It has a number of urban cycle routes, as well as links to National Cycle Network routes to Bath and London, to Gloucester and Wales, and to the south-western peninsula of England. Cycling has grown rapidly in the city, with a 21% increase in journeys between 2001 and 2005