Avonmouth railway station

Avonmouth railway station is a railway station serving the suburb of Avonmouth in Bristol, 9 miles (14 km) north-west from Bristol Temple Meads on the Severn Beach Line. All trains serving it are operated and the station is managed by First Great Western. The station is managed by First Great Western.

Five stations have served the suburb of Avonmouth at one point or another. They were Avonmouth, Avonmouth Dock (this station's original name), Avonmouth Docks, Avonmouth (Royal Edward) and St Andrews Road.^[2]

History

Avonmouth station was opened in early 1877 as Avonmouth Dock station, built for a cost of £275 near the site of an 1868 workers' platform on the south west of the single-track Bristol Port Railway and Pier line from Hotwells. The station was rebuilt and expanded in 1885 as part of the Clifton Extension Railway project by the Great Western and Midland Railways, the opening coinciding with the first services from Bristol Temple Meads via Clifton Down. The station, now named Avonmouth Dock Joint, had an island platform, one side for through services, the other a terminal line, with a run-around loop added in 1904. A canopy was built in 1900, with facilities further improved throughout the early years of the twentieth century, although it was built mainly of corrugated iron and wood. An engine shed (closed 1924), turntable (disused by mid-30s) and signal box (Avonmouth Dock Passenger, with 36 levers when it closed in 1969) were also built.^[1]

During the First World War the station handled 35,000 animals en-route to a depot at Shirehampton. Platform tickets were introduced due to demand from people wanting to see people off, and the island platform was lengthened to 330 feet (100 m) and a new "up" (to London) platform opened on 15 July 1918, connected to the island by a footbridge and level crossing.^[1]

During the grouping of 1923, the station remained jointly owned, although the partners were now the Great Western Railway and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, who in 1926 rebuilt the station with a large brick station house on the island platform, and separate parcel facilities. The up platform was also rebuilt with a wooden canopy - both canopy and parcels office are still standing today, although the office is now rented out by the station operator as a hair dresser.^[1]

The station passed from the Great Western to the Western Region of British Railways during the nationalisation of 1948. On 20 June 1966, the station closed to goods traffic, with the signal box closing three years later in 1969. The sidings and terminal platform are now covered by an industrial complex. In common with most Bristol stations, a large part of the platform length has been cordoned off as it is no longer necessary for the 30 metres (100 ft)-long trains which operate the line.

Services

Originally services at Avonmouth included circular services around the Bristol-Filton-Henbury-Avonmouth and Bristol-Filton-Pilning-Avonmouth loops. Both of these were closed to passengers in the Beeching Axe, while BPRP services from Hotwells ceased in 1921,^[3] leaving the only services terminating ones from Bristol Temple Meads.

When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways until the privatisation of British Railways, after which it was served by Wales and West from 1997–2001, then Wessex Trains from 2001–2006, before being absorbed into First Great Western as part of the "Greater Western" franchise.

Services at Avonmouth are all operated by First Great Western, using mainly Class 143 Pacer units. Monday to Friday, three trains every two hours run from Bristol Temple Meads to Avonmouth, with one extended to St Andrew's Road and Severn Beach. On Saturdays there is a similar level of service, but more trains continue to Severn Beach. Sunday sees a roughly hourly service to and from Bristol, with only two services extending to Severn Beach, except from the May timetable change until September, when all services are extended.^[4][5]

See also

• Public transport in Bristol
• Commuter rail in the United Kingdom

References

Further reading

• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 22. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199. 
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 0-9068-9999-0. OCLC 228266687. 
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0086-1. OCLC 22311137. 

External links

• Station on navigable O.S. map