Place Avonmouth Station code SAR DfT category F2 Opened 1874 | Grid reference ST517795 Managed by Great Western Railway 2011/12 6,072 Number of platforms 1 | |
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Address Bristol BS11 9HP, United Kingdom Similar Shirehampton railway station, Severn Beach railway st, Avonmouth railway station, Montpelier railway station, Sea Mills railway station | ||
St Andrews Road railway station is located near to St Andrews Road and serves a large industrial area near to Avonmouth, England. This station and all trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway.
Contents
This station is 10 miles (16 km) north-west from Bristol Temple Meads on the Severn Beach Line. All trains serving it are operated 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.
History
The station was opened in March 1917.
Service
St Andrews 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.
That has had the unfortunate side effect of services from St Andrews 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. Andrews Road station on Sundays, from May to September 2016, with two services retained through the winter.
Future
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. The franchise was put out to tender, but the process was halted and later scrapped due to the fallout from the collapse of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition. A two-year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013, and subsequently extended until March 2019.
With the coming upgrade to the Great Western Main Line, the main line from London to Bristol is due to be electrified by 2020. However, the electrification will not extend beyond the main lines, so St Andrews Road will continue to be served by diesel trains. 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. The group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification of the entire Severn Beach Line.
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. 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. 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.