St Andrews Road railway station

St Andrew's Road railway station is located near to St Andrew's Road and serves a large industrial area near to Avonmouth, Bristol, England. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway.

St Andrews Road
LocationAvonmouth, Bristol
England
Coordinates51.5132°N 2.6962°W / 51.5132; -2.6962
Grid referenceST517795
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeSAR
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
1 March 1917Opened for workmen only
13 November 1922closed
30 June 1924reopened as a public station
Passengers
2015/16 7,374
2016/17 6,522
2017/18 5,516
2018/19 4,724
2019/20 5,728
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

This station is 10 miles (16 km) north-west from Bristol Temple Meads on the Severn Beach Line. All trains serving it are operated by and the station is managed by Great Western Railway. EWS (energy division) also operate coal trains to the Aberthaw power stations in Wales on an 'as required' basis and formerly to the now closed Didcot A Power Station from the adjacent bulk freight terminal.

For many years, it has been the least used railway station in Bristol.[1]

History

The station was opened in March 1917 [2] for workmen but closed on 13 November 1922. It reopened on 30 June 1924 as a public station [3]

Service

St Andrew's Road is not a request stop, although it is sometimes incorrectly described as such. The station mainly served a large smelting works which closed and was replaced with a supermarket distribution centre which employs about 700 staff. Currently, a service with more early and late night trains than previously, but fewer daytime trains, is offered on the line. [4]

That has had the unfortunate side effect of services from St Andrew's Road being reduced overall, with only three trains each way between 9am and 6pm Mondays to Fridays. There will be an hourly Sunday service from St. Andrew's Road station on Sundays, from May to September 2016, with two services retained through the winter.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Severn Beach   Great Western Railway
Severn Beach Line		   Avonmouth
Disused railways
Avonmouth   Great Western Railway
Henbury Loop Line		   Chittening Platform
Line open, station closed.

St Andrew's Road station was featured in the Channel 4 series Paul Merton's Secret Stations Season 1 Episode 2 broadcast on 8 May 2016. This series features British comedian Paul Merton visiting various request stop railway stations around Britain.

Future
Four bidders pre-qualified for the 2013– Greater Western passenger franchise: clockwise from top left, Arriva, FirstGroup, Stagecoach Group and National Express

Great Western Railway declined a contractual option to continue the Greater Western passenger franchise (of which services at St Andrews Road are a part) beyond 2013, citing a desire for a longer-term contract due to the impending upgrade to the Great Western Main Line.[5] The franchise was put out to tender,[6][7][8] but the process was halted and later scrapped due to the fallout from the collapse of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition.[9] A two-year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013,[10][11] and subsequently extended until March 2019.[12][13][14]

With the coming upgrade to the Great Western Main Line,[15] the main line from London to Bristol is due to be electrified by 2020.[16] However, the electrification will not extend beyond the main lines, so St Andrews Road will continue to be served by diesel trains.[17] Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West, questioned whether electrification could continue to Clifton Down. Then-Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond replied that it would have to be looked at in the future.[18] The group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification of the entire Severn Beach Line.[19]

Improved services at St Andrews Road are called for as part of the Greater Bristol Metro scheme, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area.[20][21] There is an aspiration for half-hourly services, however due to the large sections of the Severn Beach Line which are single-track and to the congested main line from Temple Meads, such frequency is not currently feasible.[22][23] The scheme was given the go-ahead in July 2012 as part of the City Deal, whereby local councils would be given greater control over money by the government.[24]

See also

References
  1. "Estimates of station usage".
  2. History of the Severn Beach Line Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Private and Untimetabled Railway stations by G.Croughton page 121
  4. https://www.gwr.com/~/media/gwr/pdfs/timetables/may-2016/central/gw1605,-d-,c06,-d-,a7,-d-,490094,-d-,00,-d-,web.pdf?la=en New timetable from Great Western Railway
  5. "First Great Western bids for longer rail franchise deal". BBC News. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  6. Haigh, Philip (18 April 2012). "First leads a field of seven bidding for rail franchises". RAIL magazine. Peterborough: Bauer Media (694): 8–9.
  7. "Great Western franchise to be extended". Railnews. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  8. "New Great Western franchise to deliver new express trains" (Press release). Department for Transport. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  9. "Great Western London to south Wales rail contest scrapped". BBC News. BBC. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  10. "First celebrates last-minute Great Western deal". Railnews. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  11. "First Great Western retains Wales and west rail franchise". BBC News. BBC. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  12. "First Great Western offered new franchise deal". BBC News. BBC. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  13. "FirstGroup wins Great Western contract extension". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  14. "Updated franchise schedule signals GW extension". Railnews. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  15. "Modernising the Great Western" (PDF). Network Rail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  16. "Great Western Railway electrification up to 'four years late'". BBC News. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  17. "Bristol to London line to be electrified". This Is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  18. "Benefits of Bristol to London high-speed rail link 'must go beyond just mainline'". This Is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  19. "FoSBR Newsletter" (PDF). Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways. Autumn 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  20. White, James (13 March 2009). "Item 04: Greater Bristol Metro" (PDF). West of England Partnership. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  21. "Campaign for trains from Bristol Temple Meads every half hour". This is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  22. "Transport Minister hears calls for better Bristol train service". This is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. 17 October 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  23. "Our Case". Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  24. Ribbeck, Michael (6 July 2012). "£100 million Bristol Metro train network by 2016". The Post, Bristol. Northcliffe Media. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
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