A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Avonmouth  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Avonmouth station in 2017 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Avonmouth, Bristol England | ||||
| Coordinates | 51°30′00″N 2°41′57″W / 51.5001°N 2.6992°W | ||||
| Grid reference | ST515781 | ||||
| Managed by | Great Western Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 2 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | AVN | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F1 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Bristol Port Railway and Pier | ||||
| Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway / Midland Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | Great Western Railway / London, Midland and Scottish Railway | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1868 | Opened as a workers' platform | ||||
| 1877 | Opened as Avonmouth Dock | ||||
| 1 September 1885 | Rebuilt and renamed Avonmouth Dock Joint | ||||
| 1926 | Rebuilt | ||||
| 20 June 1966 | Closed to goods traffic; renamed as Avonmouth | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2018/19 |  0.108 million | ||||
| 2019/20 |  0.127 million | ||||
| 2020/21 | 46,076 | ||||
| 2021/22 | 88,332 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.110 million | ||||
| |||||
Avonmouth railway station is located on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Avonmouth in Bristol, England. It is 9.0 miles (14.5 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is AVN. The station has two platforms, on either side of two running lines. As of 2015[update] it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every 30 minutes to Bristol Temple Meads and one every hour to Severn Beach.
The station was opened in 1877 by the Bristol Port Railway and Pier, a railway which ran along the River Avon from Hotwells to a pier at Avonmouth. The station, originally known as Avonmouth Dock, had a single platform, but was rebuilt with two platforms by the Great Western and Midland Railways in 1885 when they began services via Clifton Down. The station was enhanced numerous times in the early part of the twentieth century, and by 1913 employed 72 staff. Facilities included a goods yard, signal box and engine shed.
The Severn Beach Line declined over the latter half of the twentieth century, with passenger numbers falling significantly. Goods services at Avonmouth ended in 1966, and all staff were withdrawn in 1967. Services had decreased to 10 per day each direction by 2005, but have since increased to a train every 30 minutes to Bristol and hourly to Severn Beach.
Description
The station is located in the Avonmouth district of Bristol, an area of mixed industrial and residential usage. The station sits to the south of the junction of Gloucester Road and Portview Road, the tracks running to parallel to Portview Road and crossing Gloucester Road at a level crossing.[1][2] The station is on the Severn Beach Line from Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach, 9 miles 02 chains (14.5 km) from Temple Meads and 4 miles 42 chains (7.3 km) from Severn Beach.[3][4][note 1] The next station towards Temple Meads is Portway Park and Ride.[5] The next station towards Severn Beach is St Andrews Road.[6]
The station is on a north-west/south-east alignment, with two platforms separated by two running lines. The southern "up" platform, adjacent to the "Up Main" line, is used for trains towards Severn Beach. The northern "down" platform, adjacent to the "Down Main" line, is bidirectionally signalled, allowing it to be used by terminating trains and those heading towards Bristol. Both platforms have significant portions of their length fenced off, giving usable lengths of 91 yards (83 m) for the southern platform and 70 yards (64 m) for the northern.[7]
Facilities at the station are minimal – there is a wooden canopy and bench seating on the northern platform, with a small metal shelter on the southern. Timetable information is provided; help points show next train information and allow users to contact railway staff.[8] There is no ticket office or other means for buying or collecting tickets, however an electronic ticketing trial is to be rolled out at the station.[8][9] There is a car park with six spaces, as well as stands for four bicycles.[8] The nearest bus stops are 150 metres (160 yd) away on Avonmouth Road.[10]
The line through Avonmouth has a speed limit of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) for locomotive-hauled trains and 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) for diesel multiple units. The line, which is not electrified, handles less than 5 million train tonnes per year, has a loading gauge of W6 and a route availability of 7.[7][11] In the 2013/14 financial year[update], more than 110,000 passengers used Avonmouth station, making it the 1,635th busiest station in the country and the sixth busiest within the Bristol unitary authority area. This was an increase of 175% from the 2002–03 financial year, and reflected a general rise in usage of the Severn Beach Line.[12][13][note 2] The 2014-15 estimates of station usage saw a further increase of 8% to 120,000 making it the 1,614th busiest station in the country.[14]
Services
All services at Avonmouth are operated by Great Western Railway using Class 166 Turbo DMUs.[15][9][16]
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[17]
- 2 tph to Bristol Temple Meads of which 1 continues to Weston-super-Mare
- 1 tph to Severn Beach
On Sundays, there is an hourly service between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach with one train per day to and from Weston-super-Mare.
Services previously ran every 40 minutes to Bristol and every two hours to Severn Beach but were increased to half-hourly to Bristol and hourly to Severn Beach in the December 2021 timetable change.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | Great Western Railway | |||
History
Construction and early operations
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]