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Pilning railway station
Pilning railway station is a minor station on the South Wales Main Line near Pilning, South Gloucestershire, England. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Bristol Temple Meads and is the last station on the English side before the Severn Tunnel through to Wales. It is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide the two train services per week from the station.
The station was opened by the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway in 1863, but was resited in 1886 when the Severn Tunnel was opened. The station had an extensive goods yard, boasting one of the largest railway communities in the Bristol area, and operated a motorail service to Wales. In 1928 the original station was reopened on the Severn Beach Line, which allowed passengers and freight to reach Avonmouth Docks, though this only lasted until 1964. The goods yard was closed in 1965, and the station buildings later demolished, with very little in the way of facilities. Passenger services also declined, to two trains per day in the 1970s and the current service level of two trains per week in 2006.
The station's footbridge was removed in 2016 as part of Great Western Main Line electrification project, meaning that only eastbound trains can now use the station. Campaigners have alleged this is part of an attempted closure by stealth, although the incident raised the station's profile nationally. Pilning is one of the least-used stations in Britain, but passenger numbers have increased in recent years due to efforts by the Pilning Station Group.
Pilning railway station is located in the Pilning area of South Gloucestershire, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the Bristol conurbation. The surrounding area is primarily farmland, with the village itself some 0.75 miles (1.2 km) further west. The station is on the South Wales Main Line between Bristol Parkway and Newport (South Wales), 9 miles 42 chains (15.3 km) from Bristol Temple Meads and 116 miles 51 chains (187.7 km) from London Paddington via Bristol Parkway. West of Pilning, the railway descends into a cutting and then into the Severn Tunnel, emerging in Wales at Severn Tunnel Junction, 6 miles 76 chains (11.2 km) away. The next station to the east is Patchway, 3 miles 46 chains (5.8 km) distant. The station sits on an embankment, with a bridge over the road east of the station and over an irrigation channel at the west.
The railway through Pilning has three tracks: from north to south these are the Up Tunnel towards Bristol; the Down Tunnel towards Wales; and then the Down Pilning Loop, also towards Wales. A fourth track, the Up Pilning Loop, ends just west of the station. All three tracks through the station are unidirectional. The two Tunnel lines have a 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) speed limit, while the loop has a speed limit of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). The line is electrified using overhead wires. Despite there being three tracks, Pilning only has a single platform in use, Platform 1, on the north side of the line. This is 120 metres (130 yd) long and serves trains towards Bristol. The old down platform, Platform 2, sits between the Down Tunnel and Down Pilning Loop, but is no longer accessible to the public. It is 121 metres (132 yd) long. There is an old brick station building on Platform 1 but it is not in railway use. Infrastructure owner Network Rail has a compound at the station.
Facilities at Pilning are extremely basic: the platform, which is covered by CCTV, has a bus stop-style shelter on it but no seats. Customer help points on the platform and timetable boards provide service information, but there are no facilities for buying tickets. The car park is permanently closed as of 2024 and newly installed locked gates prevent access to the site other than on foot or cycle, for which there are four stands. The payphone has also now been removed. Access is via a long ramp from the main road.
Pilning is consistently one of the least-used stations in Britain, recording fewer than 50 annual passengers several times between 1997 and 2015. Numbers have since increased by a factor of ten, thanks in part to campaigns by the Pilning Station Group; however as of 2017/18 it is still the 35th least used station of the 2,559 in Britain.
Pilning is managed by Great Western Railway, which operate all services from the station. A parliamentary service of two trains per week operates; as of the December 2019 timetable these are the Saturday 08:33 and 14:33 services from Cardiff Central to Penzance and Taunton respectively. The standard journey time to Bristol Temple Meads is 20 minutes, and to Taunton is 80 minutes. Services at Pilning are formed using GWR 158 and 166 diesel multiple-unit trains. Due to there being no westbound trains, a fares easement is in place allowing passengers to travel to Severn Tunnel Junction in order to return eastbound to Pilning. Rail replacement buses do not call at Pilning; in the event of engineering works taxis are provided instead.
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Pilning railway station
Pilning railway station is a minor station on the South Wales Main Line near Pilning, South Gloucestershire, England. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Bristol Temple Meads and is the last station on the English side before the Severn Tunnel through to Wales. It is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide the two train services per week from the station.
The station was opened by the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway in 1863, but was resited in 1886 when the Severn Tunnel was opened. The station had an extensive goods yard, boasting one of the largest railway communities in the Bristol area, and operated a motorail service to Wales. In 1928 the original station was reopened on the Severn Beach Line, which allowed passengers and freight to reach Avonmouth Docks, though this only lasted until 1964. The goods yard was closed in 1965, and the station buildings later demolished, with very little in the way of facilities. Passenger services also declined, to two trains per day in the 1970s and the current service level of two trains per week in 2006.
The station's footbridge was removed in 2016 as part of Great Western Main Line electrification project, meaning that only eastbound trains can now use the station. Campaigners have alleged this is part of an attempted closure by stealth, although the incident raised the station's profile nationally. Pilning is one of the least-used stations in Britain, but passenger numbers have increased in recent years due to efforts by the Pilning Station Group.
Pilning railway station is located in the Pilning area of South Gloucestershire, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the Bristol conurbation. The surrounding area is primarily farmland, with the village itself some 0.75 miles (1.2 km) further west. The station is on the South Wales Main Line between Bristol Parkway and Newport (South Wales), 9 miles 42 chains (15.3 km) from Bristol Temple Meads and 116 miles 51 chains (187.7 km) from London Paddington via Bristol Parkway. West of Pilning, the railway descends into a cutting and then into the Severn Tunnel, emerging in Wales at Severn Tunnel Junction, 6 miles 76 chains (11.2 km) away. The next station to the east is Patchway, 3 miles 46 chains (5.8 km) distant. The station sits on an embankment, with a bridge over the road east of the station and over an irrigation channel at the west.
The railway through Pilning has three tracks: from north to south these are the Up Tunnel towards Bristol; the Down Tunnel towards Wales; and then the Down Pilning Loop, also towards Wales. A fourth track, the Up Pilning Loop, ends just west of the station. All three tracks through the station are unidirectional. The two Tunnel lines have a 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) speed limit, while the loop has a speed limit of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). The line is electrified using overhead wires. Despite there being three tracks, Pilning only has a single platform in use, Platform 1, on the north side of the line. This is 120 metres (130 yd) long and serves trains towards Bristol. The old down platform, Platform 2, sits between the Down Tunnel and Down Pilning Loop, but is no longer accessible to the public. It is 121 metres (132 yd) long. There is an old brick station building on Platform 1 but it is not in railway use. Infrastructure owner Network Rail has a compound at the station.
Facilities at Pilning are extremely basic: the platform, which is covered by CCTV, has a bus stop-style shelter on it but no seats. Customer help points on the platform and timetable boards provide service information, but there are no facilities for buying tickets. The car park is permanently closed as of 2024 and newly installed locked gates prevent access to the site other than on foot or cycle, for which there are four stands. The payphone has also now been removed. Access is via a long ramp from the main road.
Pilning is consistently one of the least-used stations in Britain, recording fewer than 50 annual passengers several times between 1997 and 2015. Numbers have since increased by a factor of ten, thanks in part to campaigns by the Pilning Station Group; however as of 2017/18 it is still the 35th least used station of the 2,559 in Britain.
Pilning is managed by Great Western Railway, which operate all services from the station. A parliamentary service of two trains per week operates; as of the December 2019 timetable these are the Saturday 08:33 and 14:33 services from Cardiff Central to Penzance and Taunton respectively. The standard journey time to Bristol Temple Meads is 20 minutes, and to Taunton is 80 minutes. Services at Pilning are formed using GWR 158 and 166 diesel multiple-unit trains. Due to there being no westbound trains, a fares easement is in place allowing passengers to travel to Severn Tunnel Junction in order to return eastbound to Pilning. Rail replacement buses do not call at Pilning; in the event of engineering works taxis are provided instead.
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