St Andrews Road railway station

St Andrews Road
National Rail
General information
LocationAvonmouth, Bristol
England
Coordinates51°30′48″N 2°41′46″W / 51.5132°N 2.6962°W / 51.5132; -2.6962
Grid referenceST517795
ManagerGreat Western Railway
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeSAR[1]
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
1 March 1917Opened for workmen only
13 November 1922Closed
30 June 1924Reopened as a public station
Passengers
2020/21Decrease 4,910
2021/22Increase 7,164
2022/23Increase 17,322
2023/24Increase 34,554
2024/25Increase 81,974
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

St Andrews Road railway station serves a large industrial area near to Avonmouth, Bristol, England. This station is 15 miles 37 chains (24.9 km) from Bristol Temple Meads on the Severn Beach Line, between Severn Beach and Avonmouth.[2] The station and all trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway.

History

The station in 2013. Only the track through the platform is used for the passenger trains; the rest are freight lines.

The station was opened in March 1917 for workmen, but closed on 13 November 1922.[3] It reopened on 30 June 1924 as a public station.[4]

DB Cargo UK used to operate coal trains to the Aberthaw power stations in Wales on an 'as required' basis before it closed down in March 2020.[5]

Facilities and location

The location of the station within an industrial part of Bristol is referenced in Tiny Stations by Dixe Wills:[6]

The footbridge is its sole lifeline to the world — without it the platform would be truly adrift on a no-man's-sea of gantries, antennae, oil containers, half-hidden warehouses, structures whose proper names and functions are known only to those who read obscure trade magazines. This is no scene of post-industrial devastation, merely current industrial devastation."

The station has only a shelter, a help point and cycle storage spaces.[7] As there are no facilities to purchase tickets, passengers must buy one in advance, or from the guard on the train.

Passenger volume

For many years, it has been the least used railway station in Bristol.[8]

Passenger volume at St Andrews Road[9]
2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Entries and exits 4,969 8,008 5,518 3,183 3,582 3,942 4,328 6,072 9,910 13,376 11,184 7,374 6,522 5,516 4,724 5,728 4,910 7,164 17,322 34,554 81,974

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

For many years the station had an infrequent service in each direction, but this was increased to hourly in the December 2021 timetable change.[10]

All services at St Andrews Road are operated by Great Western Railway mainly using Class 165 and 166 Networker Turbo DMUs and the occasional Class 158 Express Sprinter DMU.[11][12]

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[13]

Some services also extend beyond Bristol Temple Meads, including one on weekdays to Salisbury, and one train on Sundays to Exeter St Davids.[13]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Great Western Railway
Disused railways
Avonmouth   Great Western Railway
   Chittening Platform
Line open, station closed

Cultural references

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.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ↑ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2023). Railway Track Diagrams; 3: Western & Wales (7th ed.). Frome: TRACKmaps. p. 18. ISBN 978 1999627164.
  3. ↑ Quick 2023, p. 399.
  4. ↑ Private and Untimetabled Railway stations by G.Croughton page 121
  5. ↑ Ambrose, Jillian (31 March 2020). "Fiddler's Ferry and Aberthaw plants shut as firms ditch coal". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  6. ↑ Wills 2014, p. 81.
  7. ↑ "St Andrews Road train station | Departures, arrivals and tickets | GWR". www.gwr.com. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "Estimates of station usage".
  9. ↑ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  10. ↑ Durrant, Carol (9 March 2023). "How could Severn Beach Line capacity be improved?". Bristol Rail Campaign. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "Massive increase in Bristol train seats begins today" (Press release). FirstGroup. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  12. ↑ "Modern trains and new technology for Bristol rail passengers". Global Railway Review. Russell Publishing. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Train times: Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare to Avonmouth and Severn Beach" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  14. ↑ "The 'ugly' train stop in Bristol named 'loneliest railway station in the world'". BristolWorld. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2026.

Bibliography

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