Bristol Parkway railway station

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Bristol Parkway
Location
Place Bristol (Stoke Gifford)
Local authority South Gloucestershire
Coordinates 51°30′49″N 2°32′34″W / 51.5136, -2.5427Coordinates: 51°30′49″N 2°32′34″W / 51.5136, -2.5427
Grid reference ST623796
Operations
Station code BPW
Managed by First Great Western
Platforms in use 3 (numbered 2-4)
Live departures and station information from National Rail
Annual Rail Passenger Usage
2004/05 * 1.456 million
2005/06 * 1.633 million
History
1 May 1972 Opened
1 July 2001 Renovated
May 2007 Platform 4 opened
National Rail - UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z  
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bristol Parkway from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
Portal:Bristol Parkway railway station
 UK Railways Portal

Bristol Parkway railway station is a railway station on the northern edge of Bristol, England, at Stoke Gifford in South Gloucestershire. It is part of the British railway system owned by Network Rail, and is run by First Great Western.

In the Strategic Rail Authority’s 2005/06 financial year, Bristol Parkway was the 186th most-used station in the UK.

Contents

[edit] History

Parkway was built in the 1970s to give Bristol a station on the railway from London to South Wales, which passes just north of the city. There were several reasons for positioning a new station at Stoke Gifford: trains to London were quicker than on the longer route from Temple Meads, via Bath and Chippenham before reaching Swindon; a larger car park than at Temple Meads could be provided; the population on the northern fringes of the city was growing, especially with the building of a new town at Bradley Stoke; and it was within easy access of the M4 and M5 motorways. The name "Parkway" has since been applied to other out-of-town stations.

The station opened on 1 May 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 1 July 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.

In January 2007 construction started on the third platform, opened as platform 4 in May 2007 [1]. On 6 August 2007, platform 1 was renumbered platform 3 to allow for a new platform to be constructed as an island with platform 2. In December 2007 First Great Western changed the services they operated at Bristol Parkway, introducing a new service to Westbury and Weston-Super-Mare. This was in place of the service to Taunton.

[edit] Future

There are plans to build a new heated waiting room, a help desk and electronic travel information screens on platforms 3 and 4. The car park is set to be increased by 300 or 400 spaces to 1500 spaces, and a fourth platform will be built.[2]. When the fourth platform opens in 2008/09 it will help ease to congestion for trains heading south and to South Wales; it has been confirmed that it will be numbered platform 1 [3].

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

[edit] Services

  Preceding station     National Rail     Following station  
Bristol Temple Meads   CrossCountry
Cross-Country Route		   Cheltenham Spa
  CrossCountry
Cross-Country Route (Limited Service)		   Gloucester
Newport   First Great Western
London - Cardiff/Swansea		   Swindon
Filton Abbey Wood   First Great Western
Great Malvern/Gloucester - Westbury		   Yate
  First Great Western
Weston-Super-Mare - Bristol Parkway		   Terminus

[edit] Station layout

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

The station has three platforms, either side of the railway track. Platforms 3 and 4 are on the same side as the station building, platform 2 on the far side, reached via an enclosed bridge across the line.

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

Platform 3 - Trains heading north and east, including to London Paddington, The Midlands and the North of England.

Platform 4 - Trains to Weston-Super-Mare.

All platforms have a heated indoor waiting area and vending machines.

Bristol Parkway. This building was opened on 1 July 2001.

Platform 2 from platform 3

A bus turning in the landscaped area in front of platform 3 the station

[edit] Transport links

Bristol Parkway is served by bus routes linking it with the rest of Bristol and South Gloucestershire. It is near the Avon Ring Road (A4174), linking to Bristol and the M32.

[edit] References

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  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Railway stations served by Bristol area local services
Taunton to Bristol
and Cardiff
Westbury and
Bristol to Cheltenham
Severn Beach Line
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