Work has begun on restoring the Portishead line in Somerset, which will bring the railway to more than 50,000 people in North Somerset. The reopened line will reconnect Portishead and Pill to the railway network. In 2001, the section of the line between Parsons Street Junction and Portbury Dock was reinstated for port traffic. The project to fully restore the line will upgrade 5.5 miles of existing freight railway and restore 3 miles of former railway. It will also include the construction of two new stations at Pill and Portishead, the latter being one of the largest towns in England without a railway station.