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Bristol could join the likes of London, Liverpool and Glasgow and get its very own underground rail system.

If approved, the network would connect Bristol Airport with the city centre and also include lines through the north and east fringes of the city.

The ambition for an underground rail network is laid out in the latest draft of the West of England Partnership transport vision study which has been leaked to the Bristol Post.

The study puts forward a series of solutions the region's congestion issues, most of which are centre on Bristol. However, it is very much a ‘wish list’ document and it is highly unlikely that all of the projects listed in the dossier will come to fruition.

Experts have said that the city’s packed streets would make it difficult to build new bus lanes, so instead underground rail systems should be considered.

It is unclear if the partnership - which include the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) and North Somerset Council - would go as far as building a series of underground stations or if it would instead sink sections of the future railway below the surface.

The report states: “The ambition is for new forms of mass transit – e.g light rail or light metro – where the potential is greatest for high passenger flows.

“Furthermore, on some corridors in the Bristol urban area there will be a limit to which the bus system can accommodate more demand and new transit options will be needed to meet growing travel demand.

“On major corridors, rail –based mass transit should be considered to accommodate future demand and to provide the quality of service to maximise mode shift from car based trips.”

The study has identified three potential routes which could run partially or full underground. These include a service from the city centre to Bristol Airport, and routes through north Bristol to Cribbs Causeway and to the east fringe of the city.

(Image: Martin Keene/PA Wire)

It appears that underground sections would likely run below the most built up parts of the city centre.

The report states: “The study has identified that it will be very difficult to achieve on-street running on the routes through east Bristol, north Bristol and through some parts of south Bristol.

“In these cases, some underground sections may be required, subject to consideration of costs and business case.”

However the report makes clear that any new rail system should work in partnership with existing bus and road routes.

The report adds: “New light rail services could be introduced to some corridors by diverting through traffic on to new or improved road.

"For example on the A4 Bristol – Bath corridor though Brislington, road space could be reallocated to accommodate transit services by diverting through traffic on to the Callington Road Link.”

Officially created at the beginning of the year, Weca is led by Metro Mayor, Tim Bowles and includes council heads from Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES).

The combined authority will received £1billion in government money to spend across a number of portfolios including transport.

The study includes a number of suggestions such as reopening former rail stations, building new roads and cycle networks and investing in transport technology. If all of the plans laid out in study were given the go-ahead the bill would top more than £8.9billon.

The author admits the transport vision is "ambitious" and "conceptual" and all of the proposals require further investigation.

The vision will make up part of the Joint Transport Plan 2036 which is due to be published in October.