A £50 million railway restoration is at the heart of the UK’s first commercial Smart Campus, redefining the way we work, live and play for a cleaner, more sustainable future.
Gravity will see 635-acres, with direct access to Junction 23 of the M5, transformed into a flagship Smart Campus.
Network Rail has confirmed in a now completed feasibility study that the rail link will connect both passengers and freight to Bristol, Exeter, Bristol Port and beyond, and is both deliverable and has sufficient paths to run the new rolling stock.
The Smart Campus will be served by the Gravity HUB – an integrated transport mobility centre at the heart of the site. It will connect strategic infrastructure with mobility as a service and where interconnection of the rail will maximise the use of future micro-mobility.
Providing an ‘end to end’ transport solution, creating access to new opportunities, it will be facilitated by a Gravity travel app, reducing commuting by road and attracting new employers and employees from urban areas via the rail network.
Gravity will also provide a test bed for micro mobility product development and trials, with the ability to manufacture and distribute to the wider UK and beyond via on site rail freight.
There will also be the opportunity to host university
partners to participate in live lab trials and transport research, examine, experiment with and advise on travel behaviours within the surrounding sub-region along the M5 Growth Corridor.
“Now, more than ever before, our world needs new thinking and new technologies to solve some of our most pressing economic, environmental and societal challenges. That is why we created Gravity. The high quality natural landscape mixed with exciting opportunities for leisure, creates a wonderful location for business and their employees, on a scale never seen before in the UK.”
Tom Curtis – Co-CEO of Gravity
As for the site generally, Gravity will shape the economic future of the South West of England and beyond with the creation of 4,000 jobs with new key worker housing and serviced accommodation to support the site.
The team behind this smart campus are committed to ensuring that Gravity will be at the leading edge of sustainable transport and mobility providing walking, cycling and public transport options to the site and future mobility options on the site, now.
Pioneering approaches to sustainable smart mobility are a critical element at Gravity. The vision ensures a large part of both freight and passengers are brought to and from site by rail with the objective to restore the former rail connection to Gravity. This will link to the main line connecting to Bristol and Exeter and Bristol Port tipped to be one of the ‘freeports’ announced later this year.
This ‘freeport’ status combined with innovative digital architecture led by Bristol University through the 5G Create programme and rail restoration from Bristol Port to Gravity will open up a new advanced manufacturing destination for inward investment.
“Gravity exemplifies the UK’s ambition to decarbonise, diversify and grow our economy, as a progressive approach to a changing climate. As the UK transitions to a low-carbon future, the grand challenges of digital, clean growth and the future of mobility will play an integral role in meeting our commitments at Gravity whilst aligned with the Government’s industrial strategy.”
Lord David Triesman – Director of Gravity
This is a future element to drive efficient, cost effective and future-proofed distribution of freight to and from the site by connecting it to Bristol deep sea port, and the rest of the country, and also ensures the employment capture for the site includes the cities of Exeter and Bristol within 45 minutes. This element is vital to reduce reliance on road transport for both freight and employees.
Gravity has ambitious deliverables, drawing on the foundations of the investment made through national infrastructure projects in Somerset, to further the legacy into sustainable economic growth for the South West: Gravity is already well on their way and welcome support in working to explore this potential and to accelerate delivery to connect people and places to new opportunities – linking cities and people to jobs – using end to end micro-mobility enabled by strategic transport.
“Bridgwater is an industrial heartland. When BAE shut up shop, we didn’t want a piecemeal development. We wanted to have a company which took the site and turned it into a visionary scheme that would stand the test of time.”
Ian Liddell-Grainger – MP for Bridgwater & West Somerset
Join our journey
For more information on locating to Gravity or how to be involved in the mobility planning.
Contact Tom curtis
Email: Info@thisisgravity.co.uk
Tel: 0207 160 0006
