Rail services in Bristol

Station	Line(s)	Platforms (in Use)	Usage 05/06	Usage 06/07	Usage 07/08	Usage 08/09	Usage 09/10	Operated by	Image
Avonmouth	Severn Beach Line	2	43,365	47,834	44,468	61,948	68,448	First Great Western
Bedminster	Bristol to Exeter Line	3	40,917	43,379	43,145	58,690	69,898	First Great Western
Bristol Parkway	Cross Country Route South Wales Main Line	3	1,633,280	1,789,848	1,897,941	2,084,200	2,041,548	First Great Western
Bristol Temple Meads	Bristol to Exeter Line Cross Country Route Great Western Main Line Severn Beach Line Wessex Main Line Heart of Wessex Line	13	6,066,239	6,548,859	7,082,098	7,829,628	7,875,686	First Great Western
Clifton Down	Severn Beach Line	2	153,027	180,656	204,397	281,876	361,828	First Great Western
Filton Abbey Wood	Cross Country Route	3	401,325	410,630	457,611	536,958	598,032	First Great Western
Lawrence Hill	Cross Country Route Severn Beach Line	2	55,865	68,371	55,730	67,338	74,876	First Great Western
Montpelier	Severn Beach Line	1	73,573	76,969	60,629	84,834	96,114	First Great Western
Parson Street	Bristol to Exeter Line	2	14,293	19,172	32,511	46,670	57,374	First Great Western
Patchway	South Wales Main Line	2	33,957	42,463	44,929	45,280	49,812	First Great Western
Redland	Severn Beach Line	1	55,529	66,852	61,394	86,234	86,426	First Great Western
Sea Mills	Severn Beach Line	1	36,411	40,786	33,222	36,358	41,680	First Great Western
Shirehampton	Severn Beach Line	1	31,539	38,493	30,893	34,292	35,758	First Great Western
St Andrews Road	Severn Beach Line	1	8,008	5,518	3,183	3,582	3,942	First Great Western
Stapleton Road	Cross Country Route Severn Beach Line	2	86,997	98,446	72,182	103,576	111,532	First Great Western

Possible new stations

Stations that are planned or wanted in the Bristol area.

Station	Line	Platforms
Ashley Hill	Cross Country Route	2
Ashton Gate	Portishead Branch	1
Hallen	Henbury loop line	1 or 2
Henbury	Henbury loop line	1 or 2
Horfield	Cross Country Route	2
North Filton	Henbury loop line	1 or 2
Pill	Portishead Branch	1
Portbury	Portishead Branch	1
Portishead	Portishead Branch	1
A4 Portway Park & Ride	Severn Beach Line	1

Disused railway stations

Disused stations within the Bristol area.

Station	Line	Platforms	Image
Ashley Hill	Cross Country Route	2
Ashton Gate	Portishead Railway	1
Avonmouth (BPRP)	Severn Beach Line
Avonmouth Docks	Severn Beach Line
Avonmouth (Royal Edward)	Severn Beach Line
Brislington	Bristol and North Somerset Railway
Bristol St Philips	Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Charlton Halt	Henbury Loop
Chittening Platform	Henbury Loop
Clifton Bridge	Portishead Railway	2
Coalpit Heath	South Wales Main Line/Cross Country Route
Cross Hands Halt	Severn Beach Line
Filton	Cross Country Route
Filton Junction	Cross Country Route
Fishponds	Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Hallen Halt	Henbury Loop	1 or 2
Ham Green Halt	Portishead Railway	1
Henbury	Henbury Loop	1 or 2
Horfield	Cross Country Route	2
Hotwells	Bristol Port Railway and Pier
Hotwells Halt	Bristol Port Railway and Pier
Kelston	Mangotsfield Branch Line
Long Ashton	Bristol to Exeter Line
Mangotsfield	Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line/Bristol and Gloucester Railway
New Passage Halt	Severn Beach Line
New Passage Pier	Severn Beach Line
Nightingale Valley Halt	Portishead Railway	1
North Filton Platform	Henbury Loop	1 or 2
Pill	Portishead Railway	1
Portbury	Portishead Railway	1
Portishead	Portishead Railway	1
Saltford	Great Western Main Line
St Anne's Park	Great Western Main Line	2
Staple Hill	Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Warmley	Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line
Whitchurch Halt	Bristol and North Somerset Railway
Winterbourne	South Wales Main Line/Cross Country Route

Railway lines

There are six railway lines running through Bristol.

Bristol to Exeter Line

Main article: Bristol to Exeter Line

The Bristol to Exeter Line runs between Bristol and Exeter via the Nailsea, Weston-super-Mare, Bridgwater and Taunton. It is served by local First Great Western services, and used by Cross-Country and Intercity trains headed towards Plymouth.

Cross-Country Route

Main article: Cross-Country route

The North-East/South-West route (sometimes simply The Cross-Country Route) is the major British rail route running from South West England or Cardiff via Bristol, Birmingham, Derby and Sheffield to North-East England and Scotland. It includes some of the longest inter-city rail journeys in the UK, eg Penzance to Aberdeen) It was also a major freight route, although now largely usurped by the M5, M6 and M1 motorways.

The route shares parts of the Great Western Main Line, Midland Main Line, Sheffield to Hull Line, the East Coast Main Line and the core Cardiff-Bristol-Birmingham-Derby route,

Great Western Main Line

Main article: Great Western Main Line

The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington station to Temple Meads station in Bristol.

Severn Beach Line

Main article: Severn Beach Line

The route runs from Temple Meads to Severn Beach via Lawrence Hill, Stapleton Road, Montpelier, Redland, Clifton Down, Sea Mills, Shirehampton, Avonmouth, St Andrews Road before reaching terminus at Severn Beach. The journey takes approximately 45 minutes.

Following a successful campaign by FOSBR (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railway), the Severn Beach Line is going to have an increased frequency from December 2007 to March 2010 ^[1].It is hoped this will pave the way for better services across the conurbation. An additional train will operate on the line meaning services should be at the least every 40 mins.

South Wales Main Line

Main article: South Wales Main Line

The South Wales Main Line is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in the UK. It diverges from the main line at Wootton Bassett near Swindon, first calling at Bristol Parkway, after which the line continues through the Severn Tunnel into South Wales.

Wessex Main Line

Main article: Wessex Main Line

The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth.

Main destinations

There is usually a direct service from Bristol to these destinations:

Destination	Time from TM	Operator
Bath Spa	11 - 17 mins	First Great Western
Birmingham New Street	86 mins	CrossCountry
Cardiff Central	47 - 68 mins	First Great Western
Gloucester	41 - 55 mins	CrossCountry / First Great Western
Leeds	201 - 227 mins	CrossCountry
London Paddington	96 - 122 mins	First Great Western
London Waterloo	171 - 178 mins	South West Trains
Manchester Piccadilly	178 - 180 mins	CrossCountry
Newcastle	301 - 317 mins	CrossCountry
Newport	30-41 mins	First Great Western
Plymouth	120 mins	CrossCountry / First Great Western
Portsmouth Harbour	151 mins	First Great Western
Reading	69-74 mins	First Great Western
Severn Beach	35-44 mins	First Great Western
Southampton Central	101 mins	First Great Western
Swindon	39 mins	First Great Western
Taunton	30-75 mins	CrossCountry / First Great Western

Train operators

Current train operators

Operator	Years	Image	Major services
CrossCountry	2007-2016		Bristol to Manchester Piccadilly Plymouth and the south west to Newcastle and Scotland
First Great Western	1996-2006 2006-2013		London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads London Paddington to Cardiff Central and Swansea via Bristol Parkway Cardiff Central to Taunton Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour Bristol Parkway to Weston-super-Mare Bristol Temple Meads to Avonmouth and Severn Beach Gloucester to Weymouth
South West Trains	1996-2003 2003-2007 2007-2017		Bristol Temple Meads to London Waterloo via Salisbury

Former train operators

Operator	Years	Image	Services
Post-nationalisation
British Rail	1948-1986		All services
Post-sectorisation
InterCity	1986-1996		London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads London Paddington to Cardiff Central and Swansea via Bristol Parkway Plymouth and the south west to the north and Scotland
Regional Railways	1986-1996		All non-InterCity services
Post-privatisation
Great Western Trains	1996-1998		London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads London Paddington to Cardiff Central and Swansea via Bristol Parkway
Virgin CrossCountry	1997-2007		Bristol to Manchester Piccadilly Plymouth and the south west to Newcastle and Scotland
Wales and Borders	2001-2003
Wales and West	1997-2001
Wessex Trains	2001-2006		All local and non-express inter-city services.

There have also been a number of other companies pre-nationalisation, including:

Greater Bristol Metro scheme

The Greater Bristol Metro scheme is a proposal to improve the rail services in Bristol, England, and the surrounding region first proposed at First Great Western's Stakeholder Event in March 2008. The aim of the project is to develop half hourly services through central Bristol which will also serve the surrounding West of England region.^[2] Transport campaigning group, Transport for Greater Bristol are actively supporting the proposal, ^[3] as are the four unitary authorities.^[4] Earlier plans for a metro system were promoted by then MEP Richard Cottrell in 1986 and acts of Parliament were secured. This would have used existing track with new build through the city centre. However the scheme folded when Advanced Transport for Avon was wound up with debts of £3.8 million.^[5]

Rail usage in the West of England doubled in the 10 years, 1999 to 2009, with existing services suffering from lack of capacity on trains leading to overcrowding and in some cases having to leave passengers behind on stations. The Greater Bristol Metro aims to ease this congestion and to attract people who currently use cars onto the railway. Additional aims of the scheme are to support housing and employment along the rail corridors between Weston-super-Mare to Yate, and Cardiff to Bath.^[2] The scheme is estimated to cost £22 million at 2008/09 prices and could be completed between 2016 and 2021.^[4] An opinion piece in the Bristol Evening Post in June 2011 called for the establishment of an Integrated Transport Authority for the West of England and for progress on the metro proposal.^[6] During the Rail Priority Conference organised by the West of England Partnership in November 2011, delegates travelled on the Portishead line, the Severn Beach line and the Henbury Loop, using sections of track not currently used for passenger traffic.^[7]^[8]

References

^ http://www.fosbr.org.uk/Victory.htm Friends of Suburban Bristol Railway
^ ^a ^b White, James (13 March 2009). "Item 04 Greater Bristol Metro" (PDF). West of England Partnership. http://www.westofengland.org/media/98508/item%2004%20greater%20bristol%20metro%2013%20march%202009.pdf. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^ "Transport for Greater Bristol : News". tfgb.org.uk. 2011. http://www.tfgb.org.uk/news.htm. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^ ^a ^b "CS10: Transportation and Movement (application/pdf Object)" (PDF). North Somerset Council. 2011. http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/5CF476AF-FD27-47D0-B739-530AF331B76A/0/HD20AppendixBristolMetro.pdf. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^ "Supertram vision at end of the line" (Subscription required). Bristol Evening Post, archived at LexisNexis (Bristol United Press). 3 June 2004. http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T13585282216&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T13585282220&cisb=22_T13585282219&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&selRCNodeID=32&nodeStateId=410en_GB,1,13&docsInCategory=7&csi=166254&docNo=5. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^ "Bristol's metro is not as far off track as you might think". Bristol Evening Post (Northcliffe Media). 30 June 2011. http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/Bristol-s-metro-far-track-think/story-12854178-detail/story.html. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^ "Rail Priority Conference 2011". travelplus.org.uk. 2011x. http://www.travelplus.org.uk/news/rail-priority-conference-2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^ Pierce, Ellie; Terretta, Hayley (21 November 2011). "Proposed revival for Bristol Metro scheme". Epigram (University of Bristol Student Union). http://www.epigram.org.uk/2011/11/proposed-revival-for-bristol-metro-scheme/. Retrieved 28 December 2011.

External links

Transport in Bristol

Road

Motorways	M4 · M5 · M32 · M49 · Almondsbury Interchange

European Routes	European route E30

A roads	A4 (Portway) · A37 · A369 · A370 · A403 · A420 · A431 · A432 · A4018 · A4174 · A4032 · B4058

Bus

Buses in Bristol · Bristol Bus Station · Bristol Portway park and ride · Bristol A4 Bath Road park and ride · Bugler Coaches · First Bristol · First Somerset & Avon · Wessex Red · List of bus routes in Bristol

Cycling

National Cycle Route 3 · National Cycle Route 4 (Bristol & Bath Railway Path)

Rail

Railway lines	Bristol to Taunton Line · Great Western Main Line · Henbury Loop · Portishead Railway · South Wales Main Line · Cross Country Route

Stations	Avonmouth · Bedminster · Bristol Parkway · Bristol Temple Meads · Clifton Down · Lawrence Hill · Montpelier · Parson Street · Portway · Redland · Sea Mills · Severn Beach · Shirehampton · St Andrews Road · Stapleton Road

Severn Beach Line	Bristol Temple Meads • Lawrence Hill • Stapleton Road • Montpelier • Redland • Clifton Down • Sea Mills • Shirehampton • Avonmouth • St Andrews Road • Severn Beach

Other	Greater Bristol Metro · Rail transport in Bristol

Air

Bristol Filton Airport · Bristol Airport

Water

River Avon · Bristol Harbour · Cumberland Basin · Netham Lock · Bristol Ferry Boat Company · Bristol Marina · Underfall Yard · Kennet and Avon Canal · Avonmouth Docks · Port of Bristol · Royal Portbury Dock

Public Transport

Public transport in Bristol

Bridges

Avon Bridge · Avonmouth Bridge · Bristol Bridge · Clifton Suspension Bridge · Pero's Bridge

Railway stations served by Bristol area commuter services

Taunton to Bristol and Cardiff	Taunton • Bridgwater • Highbridge and Burnham • Weston-super-Mare • Weston Milton • Worle • Yatton • Nailsea and Backwell • Parson Street • Bedminster • Bristol Temple Meads • Lawrence Hill • Stapleton Road • Filton Abbey Wood • Patchway • Pilning • Severn Tunnel Junction • Newport • Cardiff Central

Westbury and Bristol to Cheltenham	Westbury • Trowbridge • Bradford-on-Avon • Avoncliff • Freshford • Bath Spa • Oldfield Park • Keynsham • Bristol Temple Meads • Lawrence Hill • Stapleton Road • Filton Abbey Wood • Bristol Parkway • Yate • Cam and Dursley • Gloucester • Cheltenham Spa

Severn Beach Line	Bristol Temple Meads • Lawrence Hill • Stapleton Road • Montpelier • Redland • Clifton Down • Sea Mills • Shirehampton • Avonmouth • St Andrews Road • Severn Beach