Avonmouth railway station

The Railway Clearing House Atlas of 1914 shows the then-extensive railway network around Avonmouth.

The railways first came to Avonmouth in 1865, when services began on the Bristol Port Railway and Pier (BPRP), a self-contained railway which ran along the north bank of the River Avon to a deep water pier on the Severn Estuary. The BPRP line ran through the site of the current station and 1 mile 72 chains (3.1 km) beyond to a terminus at the first Avonmouth station. The BPRP ran into trouble by 1871 when the terminal pier at Avonmouth became difficult to use due to a build-up of silt. With no prospect of a proper dock being funded without a connection to the national rail network, the Clifton Extension Railway (CER) was approved. This was a joint venture by the BPRP, Great Western Railway (GWR) and Midland Railway (MR) which ran from Sneyd Park Junction, south of Sea Mills, via Clifton Down, to join up with the national network at Narroways Hill Junction.[3][18]^: 12 The link opened in 1877, but initially only for goods trains. The route from Sneyd Park Junction to Clifton Down was subsequently cleared for passenger use on 3 August 1878, but the Midland and Great Western Railways did not think the BPRP track was in a suitable condition and so refused to run any passenger trains beyond Clifton Down.[18]^: 49

The station, originally known as Avonmouth Dock, was opened in 1877, shortly after the opening of the Avonmouth Docks in February that year. It was built on, or very near to, the site of a halt built in 1868 for the Docks' construction workers.[19] The local area was still mostly rural – there were a few buildings around the station area, as well as the docks, with the closest extent of the Bristol conurbation 1 mile (1.6 km) away at Shirehampton.[20] The station cost £275 to build, and was merely a platform on the south side of the single track, served by eight trains per day between Hotwells and the BPRP's Avonmouth terminus, increasing to ten per day from 1887.[18]^: 24 The Great Western and Midland Railways considered the station inadequate for the passenger numbers expected, and so purchased additional land to enhance the station with extra tracks. The new station comprised a wide island platform – the northern face on the original through line, the southern face being for a new terminal line. The station, now known as Avonmouth Dock Joint, was constructed using mainly wood and corrugated iron. It was opened on 1 September 1885, coinciding with the beginning of passenger services beyond Clifton Down.[19] The Great Western initially offered six trains per day each direction between Avonmouth Dock and Bristol Temple Meads. Fearing competition, the BPRP did not allow passengers to use GWR services between its stations. The Midland Railway did not run any passenger services beyond Clifton Down, apart from a one-month trial service in September 1885.[21]^: 41 Despite the increased traffic the BPRP suffered financially, and was taken over by the CER in 1890.[18]^: 10–11 The BPRP's Avonmouth terminus closed to the public in 1902, after which all trains terminated at Avonmouth Dock.[19]

The station went through numerous enhancements in the first part of the twentieth century. A new platform canopy and urinal were provided in 1900 at a cost of £250. Further improvements followed in 1902 at a cost of £80; and in August 1904 significant enhancements to the station buildings and an extension of the platform cost a total of £1,570. A 60 feet (18 m) turntable was constructed in December 1903; with a signal box, known as Avonmouth Dock Passenger, installed at the end of the platform. Dedicated goods staff were employed from the start of 1904, with that year also seeing the installation of a run-around loop for the terminal platform. A small engine shed was added in January 1905.[19] In 1910, some passenger trains once again began to run beyond Avonmouth Dock, continuing towards Henbury on the newly opened Henbury Loop Line, which allowed goods trains to the docks to avoid the steep Clifton Down Tunnel.[18]^: 49[21] Other trains arrived from London via the loop, connecting with steamer services to Canada and Jamaica.[21]^: 40 At this point there were 17 trains from Bristol to Avonmouth Dock and 15 back each day; increasing to 21 and 19 respectively by 1920.[18]^: 49 The station was well-staffed, with 25 station staff and 47 goods staff in 1913.[19] Positions included stationmaster; booking clerks; posters; and outdoor porters, who took goods to ships in the docks.[18]^: 47

During the First World War, an Army Remount Service depot was located near Shirehampton. Over the course of the war, Avonmouth Dock Joint handled 35,000 animals, mainly horses and mules, en route to the depot. July 1917 saw the introduction of platform tickets, to capitalise on people using the station to bid farewell to friends heading overseas, or to welcome those returning. The platform was lengthened to 330 feet (100 m) in December 1917. A second through track was added in 1918, and so a new cinder-covered platform was built on the north side of the line. The two platforms were linked by a footbridge and a level crossing. The cost of the new platform and the lengthening works was £7,420.[19]

After the war, construction of the Bristol Portway along the Avon Gorge necessitated the closure of the line from Sneyd Park Junction to Hotwells, with trains along it ceasing on 3 July 1922. By this point there were nine trains per day from Hotwells, and eight return. To compensate for the loss of service, the Great Western provided an additional four trains daily from Avonmouth Dock to Bristol and six return. In 1923, grouping resulted in the Midland Railway being absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), and the line continued in a joint arrangement between the Great Western and the LMS.[18]^: 49 The engine shed was closed in 1924.[19]

By the mid-1920s, the station was proving inadequate for the passenger numbers, and so work began on a comprehensive rebuild in 1926. The new buildings were made of brick; with a large, four-chimneyed building containing most of the facilities; as well as a separate parcels office. The northern platform had a wooden awning built, which is still in place today.[19]

From 1928 many services to Avonmouth Dock were extended to Severn Beach.[18]^: 49 By 1947, just before the railways were nationalised, there were 33 services each direction between Avonmouth Dock and Temple Meads, with 18 on Sundays.[21]^: 41 Some trains made circular trips to and from Temple Meads via Clifton Down and Henbury or Pilning.[16][19]

The station in 1992, looking along the lines towards Bristol.

When the railways were nationalised in 1948, services at Avonmouth Dock came under the aegis of the Western Region of British Railways. By 1955, service levels had decreased slightly to 28 trains per day from Bristol and 29 return, but the services were at regular intervals. Passenger numbers however dropped sharply in 1961 as the result of a fare increase, and so in 1962 a new reduced timetable was enacted, which lost more passengers. A year later in 1963, the Beeching report suggested the complete withdrawal of services along the line, but ultimately only those beyond Severn Beach or via Henbury were withdrawn.[18] Goods services from the station ended on 20 June 1966, the same day that the station was renamed "Avonmouth".[19][22] The bay platform was taken out of use and the land later taken for industrial buildings.[19] From 17 July 1967 all staffing was withdrawn from stations along the line, including Avonmouth, with tickets issued by the train guard.[18]^: 49–51 The station buildings on the island platform survived into the 1970s, as did the footbridge, but with the exception of the parcels office, all were later demolished.[19][23][24] The parcels office was in use in 2006 as a hairdressing salon. The signal box was closed in January 1969, and in September 1973 the wooden level crossing gates were replaced by automatic lifting barriers.[19] By 1974, service had reduced to 19 trains per day in each direction, with no Sunday services to Severn Beach.[18]^: 50[25]

British Rail was split into business-led sectors in the 1980s, at which time operations at Avonmouth passed to Regional Railways. At this time, all trains ran to Severn Beach, but the service pattern was irregular.[16] This changed in 1995 when an hourly timetable was introduced for peak times, but northbound services were terminated at Avonmouth.[21]^: 42

When the railway was privatised in 1997, local services were franchised to Wales & West, which was succeeded by Wessex Trains, an arm of National Express, in 2001.[26][27] Following action by Friends of Severn Beach Railway and a string of protests, services had increased to 10 per day in each direction by 2005, with Bristol City Council providing a subsidy to Wessex Trains.[19][28] The Wessex franchise was amalgamated with the Great Western franchise into the Greater Western franchise from 2006, and responsibility passed to First Great Western, a subsidiary company of FirstGroup, subsequently rebranded as Great Western Railway in 2015.[29][30][31][32] A minimum service requirement was written into the franchise agreement, ensuring an hourly service along the line, and this has since been increased to three trains every two hours (25 trains per day).[33][34][35][36] Sunday services to Severn Beach were restored in 2010.[25]

The old parcel facility, the last-surviving station building, was demolished in 2015.

The final remaining station building, the old parcels office, was demolished in 2015. Local rail campaigners, including Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways and MP Charlotte Leslie, petitioned to prevent the demolition, however Network Rail stated that the cost of restoration was too high and that it had become a safety risk.[37][38][39][40]