Bristol Parkway railway station

Parkway was built in the 1970s to give Bristol a station on the railway running from London to South Wales, which passes just north of the city. There were several reasons for positioning a new station at Stoke Gifford: the rail route was attractive to travellers because trains to London were quicker than on the longer route from Temple Meads, which runs via Bath and Chippenham before reaching Swindon, a larger car park could be provided than at Temple Meads and the population on the northern fringes of the city was growing, especially with the building of a new town Bradley Stoke. The name "Parkway" has since been applied to other out-of-town stations.

The station opened on May 1, 1972 with temporary buildings. When a permanent station was built, it was architecturally unimpressive: a single low building on the north side of the tracks at the far west end, with footbridge access over the "goods loop" tracks to the two long platforms. On July 1, 2001 a new building and footbridge opened, still on the north side but near the middle of the platforms, with lifts for disabled access to the platforms and a larger refreshment and waiting area on an upper level. The redevelopment cost Network Rail over £4 million.

A third platform has been proposed since at least 2004, and construction started in January 2007. [1]

Bristol Parkway today. The new building was opened in July 2001.

The station has also been identified as a possible northern terminus for a light rail system in the Bristol area.

[edit] Station layout

The station building encompasses a large waiting area with a small ticket office, toilets and a small cafe. There is a large seated waiting area on the upper level with its own cafe and small shop. It also features Wi-Fi internet access.

The station has two platforms, either side of the railway track. Platform 1 is located on the same side as the station building itself, with Platform 2 on the far side, which is reached via an enclosed bridge which spans the track.

Platform 2, as seen from Platform 1.

Platform 1 - Trains heading north and east, including trains to London Paddington, Swindon, The Midlands and the North of England.

Platform 2 - Trains heading south and west, including trains to Bristol Temple Meads, South Wales, Devon and Cornwall.

Both platforms have their own small heated indoor waiting area and various vending machines.

[edit] Unconfirmed expected changes

When the 3rd platform opens it is thought that the platforms will be renumbered with the new platform taking #1, the existing platform 1 becoming platform 2 etc. Services to London Paddington, Swindon, The Midlands and the North of England will then stop at either platform 1 or 2 and trains to the south, west and [Wales] will stop at platform 3.

If Gloucester Parkway opens it is thought that cross country services will stop there after/before calling at Bristol Parkway.

[edit] Routes

Virgin Cross Country routes provide services to the South West, Birmingham, The Midlands, the North of England and Scotland.

First Great Western Intercity services provides services to South Wales and to London, via Swindon and Reading.

First Great Western Local services provides services to several local stations, as far as Great Malvern to the north and Taunton to the south, which call at several stations including Weston Super Mare, Bridgwater, Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa.

[edit] Transport links

Bristol Parkway is served by many bus linking it with the rest of Bristol and South Gloucestershire these include services 73, 73A, 73B, X84, 517, 518, 580 and more. If trains are not running a replacement coach link will leave from the front of the station. The station is located near the Avon ring Road(A4174).

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Bristol Parkway railway station

Train times and station information for Bristol Parkway railway station from National Rail
Street map and aerial photo of Bristol Parkway railway station from Multimap.com

Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 51.5141° -2.5441°
- Satellite image from WikiMapia or Google Map
- Street map from Multimap or GlobalGuide
- Aerial image from TerraServer

Preceding station		Following station
Swindon	First Great Western Intercity services South Wales Main Line	Newport
Filton Abbey Wood	First Great Western Local services Taunton - Cheltenham	Yate
Bristol Temple Meads	Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route	Gloucester * or Cheltenham Spa
* Not all services call at this station

v • d • e Railway stations served by Bristol area local services
Bristol-Taunton line / Great Western Main Line	Taunton • Bridgwater • Highbridge and Burnham • Weston-super-Mare • Weston Milton • Worle • Yatton • Nailsea and Backwell • Parson Street • Bedminster • Bristol Temple Meads • Keynsham • Oldfield Park • Bath Spa
Wessex Main Line:	Bristol Temple Meads • Keynsham • Oldfield Park • Bath Spa • Freshford • Avoncliff • Bradford on Avon • Trowbridge
Severn Beach Line	Bristol Temple Meads • Lawrence Hill • Stapleton Road • Montpelier • Redland • Clifton Down • Sea Mills • Shirehampton • Avonmouth • St Andrews Road • Severn Beach
Bristol to Cardiff	Bristol Temple Meads • Lawrence Hill • Stapleton Road • Filton Abbey Wood • Bristol Parkway • Patchway • Pilning • Severn Tunnel Junction • Newport • Cardiff Central
Bristol to Cheltenham	Bristol Temple Meads • Lawrence Hill • Stapleton Road • Filton Abbey Wood • Bristol Parkway • Yate • Cam and Dursley • Gloucester • Cheltenham Spa