Henbury Loop | |||
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![]() The line at Henbury | |||
Overview | |||
Status | Operational (freight only) | ||
Owner | Network Rail | ||
Locale | Bristol South Gloucestershire | ||
Termini | |||
Stations | 5 (0 in use) | ||
Service | |||
Type | Heavy rail | ||
System | National Rail | ||
Technical | |||
Line length | 6 miles 39 chains (10.4 km) [1] | ||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||
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Henbury Loop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Henbury Loop Line, also known as the Filton to Avonmouth Line, is a railway line following the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire between the Severn Beach Line at Hallen Marsh Junction, Avonmouth and the Cross Country Route/South Wales Main Line at Filton. It is currently only used for freight.
The line was opened on 9 May 1910, as a more direct route to Avonmouth docks, and was initially known as the Avonmouth and Filton Railway. Although the line was mainly intended for freight services, passenger services were also provided until 1915, with stations at Filton Halt, Charlton, Henbury and Hallen. In 1917 a small station was opened at Chittening Platform to serve a new factory. The line was fully reopened to passenger traffic in 1922. Filton Halt, Charlton and Hallen stations did not reopen, but in 1926 a new station, North Filton Platform, was opened on the site of Filton Halt. The line closed to passenger traffic in 1964. [2]
In 1971 a curve was opened to link the line to the South Wales Main Line at Patchway. This was to facilitate traffic to and from South Wales, including zoo excursions to Clifton Down. [3]
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(June 2020) |
Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FOSBR) and other local rail campaign groups support the reopening of the line to passengers, as well as the stations at North Filton and Henbury. [4] [5] [6] [7] FOSBR suggest this would help services along the Severn Beach Line, allowing a Bristol Temple Meads-Avonmouth-Bristol Parkway service, and also provide services to the north of Bristol generally, the Cribbs Causeway shopping centre, [8] and the redevelopment at Filton Aerodrome. [8] South Gloucestershire Council planning committee recommended in 2011 that the line be re-opened for passenger services. [9]
A consultation document produced for the West of England Partnership by the Halcrow Group suggested passenger services use the line as a spur. Campaigners objected that the suggested services would not call at stations such as Stapleton Road and Lawrence Hill. [7]
A one-off service, operated by First Great Western, ran on the line on 27 July 2013. [10] The train operator hoped to use the service to demonstrate the feasibility of running services over the line, and to make the case for suitable funding. [10] and depends in part upon the four-tracking of Filton Bank to allow more trains to operate the line from Bristol Temple Meads to Filton Abbey Wood. [11] Work on restoring four-track use on Filton Bank was completed in late 2018.
In October 2022 the opening of a new station, North Filton, on the line was pushed back to 2026. [12]
In March 2023 construction work began on Ashley Down station, which, along with Filton Abbey Wood and new stations at North Filton and Henbury, will serve a planned new route along part of the Henbury Loop Line. [13]
This line has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a candidate for reopening. [14]
The Severn Beach line is a local railway line in Bristol and Gloucestershire, England, which runs from Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach, and used to extend to Pilning. The first sections of the line were opened in 1863 as part of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier; the section through Bristol was opened in 1875 as the Clifton Extension Railway.
Hallen is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, just north of the Bristol city boundary. It is southwest of Easter Compton, northeast of Avonmouth and northwest of Henbury. The village lies at the edge of the Severn floodplain, sandwiched between the M49 and M5 motorways. It is sometimes claimed that the name "Hallen" is from the Welsh for salt, 'halen', or from an Anglo-Saxon word of the same meaning, however, 16th century spellings make it clear that this is not the case; the name is apparently Middle or Early Modern English from 'hall' (hall) or 'hale' + 'ende' (end).
Stapleton Road railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and Cross Country Route, serving the inner-city district of Easton in Bristol, England. It is 1.6 miles (2.6 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is SRD. The station has two platforms, four running lines and minimal facilities. It is managed by Great Western Railway, the seventh company to be responsible for the station, and the third franchise since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, the standard service being two trains per hour along the Severn Beach Line and an hourly service between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood.
Filton Abbey Wood railway station serves the town of Filton in South Gloucestershire, England; it is located 4.4 miles (7.1 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. There are four platforms but minimal facilities. The station is managed by Great Western Railway that operates all services that call here. The general service level is eight trains per hour: two to South Wales, two to Bristol Parkway, two toward Weston-super-Mare and two toward Westbury.
Montpelier railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Montpelier in Bristol, England. It is 2.85 miles (4.59 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is MTP. The station has a single platform, serving trains in both directions. As of 2015 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 in each direction.
Clifton Down railway station is on the Severn Beach line and serves the district of Clifton in Bristol, England. It is 3.9 miles (6.3 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is CFN. The station has two platforms, each serving trains in one direction only. As of 2015 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 in each direction.
Redland railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the districts of Cotham and Redland in Bristol, England. It is 3.3 miles (5.3 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is RDA. As of 2015 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 in each direction.
Sea Mills railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Sea Mills and nearby Westbury on Trym in Bristol, England. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) from Bristol Temple Meads, situated at the confluence of the River Avon and River Trym and near the A4 Bristol Portway. Its three letter station code is SML. The station has a single platform which serves trains in both directions. As of 2015 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 in each direction.
Shirehampton railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Shirehampton in Bristol, England. It is 7.6 miles (12.2 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is SHH. The station has a single platform which serves trains in both directions. As of 2015 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 in each direction.
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 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.
Severn Beach railway station serves the village of Severn Beach, England. The station is the terminus of the Severn Beach Line.
Lawrence Hill railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and Cross Country Route, serving the inner-city districts of Easton and Lawrence Hill in Bristol, England. It is 1.0 mile (1.6 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. Its three letter station code is LWH. The station has two platforms, four running lines and minimal facilities. It is managed by Great Western Railway, the seventh company to be responsible for the station and the third franchise since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, the standard service being two trains per hour along the Severn Beach Line and an hourly service between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood.
Chittening Platform railway station was a station on the former Great Western Railway between Filton and Avonmouth.
Rail services in the West of England refer to passenger rail journeys made in the Bristol commuter area. 17 million passenger rail journeys were made in 2019-20 within the Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath region.
MetroWest, formerly known as the Greater Bristol Metro, is a project to improve the rail services in Bristol, England, and the surrounding region. It was first proposed at First Great Western's Stakeholder Event in March 2008. The aim of the project is to develop half-hourly services through central Bristol which will also serve the surrounding West of England region. Transport campaigning groups Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FoSBR) and Transport for Greater Bristol are actively supporting the proposal, as are the three unitary authorities under the West of England Combined Authority and North Somerset Council.
North Filton Platform was a railway station which served the northern part of Filton, Gloucestershire, England. It was on the railway line between Filton and Avonmouth, and was situated on the western side of Gloucester Road.
Bristol Rail Campaign is a Bristol-based campaign group, calling for better rail transport in the Bristol area.
Henbury railway station served the Bristol suburb of Henbury, England, from 1910 to 1965. The station was situated on the Henbury Loop Line of the Great Western Railway and was opened on 9 May 1910 for passenger services. Under the Beeching cuts, it was closed to passengers on 23 November 1964, with goods services ceasing on 5 July 1965. There is a proposal to reopen the station as part of the Greater Bristol Metro scheme.
Hallen Halt railway station was a railway station in Hallen, Gloucestershire, England, on the Henbury Loop Line. The station is closed, and the line is closed to passengers.
Charlton Halt railway station was a railway station which served the village of Charlton, west of Filton in South Gloucestershire, England, on the Avonmouth and Filton Railway, now known as the Henbury Loop Line. The station was open only between May 1910 and March 1915, when the line was closed to passengers. The line was reopened to passengers from 1922 to 1964, but the station was not reopened.