Pilning railway station

Pilning
Location
Place	Pilning
Local authority	South Gloucestershire
Coordinates	51°33′23″N 2°37′35″W / 51.5563°N 2.6265°WCoordinates: 51°33′23″N 2°37′35″W / 51.5563°N 2.6265°W
Grid reference	ST566844
Operations
Station code	PIL
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	2 (1 from 05/11/2016)
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	178
2011/12	146
2012/13	130
2013/14	88
2014/15	68
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
1 December 1886	Opened as Pilning
9 July 1928	Renamed Pilning High Level
6 May 1968	Renamed Pilning
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Pilning from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Bristol Area Railway Map
Legend
Cross Country Route Thornbury Branch Line Yate South Wales Main Line New Passage Pier Westerleigh Junction New Passage Halt Cross Hands Halt South Wales Main Line Pilning Severn Beach Coalpit Heath Severn View Industrial Park Winterbourne Chittening Industrial Estate Bristol Parkway Patchway Smoke Lane Industrial Estate Ram Hill Colliery Chittening Platform Hallen Halt Avonmouth Docks Henbury St Andrews Road Charlton Halt Avonmouth (BPRP) North Filton Platform Filton Triangle Depot Avonmouth (Royal Edward) Westerleigh Goods Depot Avonmouth Docks Avonmouth Filton Junction Avonmouth Light Railway Filton Avonmouth Docks Filton Abbey Wood Shirehampton Horfield Sea Mills Ashley Hill Clifton Down Tunnel Mangotsfield (1845–1869) Clifton Down Mangotsfield (1869–1966) Redland Staple Hill Montpelier Fishponds Hotwells Halt Hotwells Narroways Hill Junction Stapleton Road sidings Grey line represents Stapleton Road boundary of Bristol Warmley unitary authority area Lawrence Hill Waste depot Oldland Common Bristol St Philip's Barton Hill Depot St Mary Redcliffe tunnel Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Harbour Railway St Philips Marsh T&RSMD Bedminster Parson Street Bristol Docks (North) Bristol Docks (South) South Liberty Lane Depot East Depot Bitton Ashton Gate St Anne's Park Clifton Bridge Brislington Nightingale Valley Halt Long Ashton Ham Green Halt Avon Riverside Pill Keynsham Portbury shipyard Whitchurch Halt Royal Portbury Dock Kelston Portbury Shipyard Saltford Portbury Mangotsfield Branch Line (1954–1964) Portishead Great Western Main Line Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway Bristol & North Somerset Rly (1879–1954) Portishead Bristol to Exeter Line Portishead Pier

Coal train climbing up from the Severn Tunnel in 1961

Pilning railway station is a minor railway station in Pilning, South Gloucestershire, England. It is the last station on the English side before the Severn Tunnel through to Wales. Much of the village of Pilning is closer to Severn Beach railway station.

In 2015 Pilning was ranked as the 6th quietest station in the UK based on passenger entries and exits, with just 68 entries and exits recorded for the entire year.^[1]

Due to the electrification of the Great Western Mainline, from 5th November 2016 the Down Platform and footbridge will be closed at Pilning and all services serving the station will be Taunton bound services.^[2]

History

The first Pilning station was opened on 8 September 1863 by the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway, absorbed by the Great Western Railway in 1868. When the Severn Tunnel was opened in 1886, the new line diverged from the original B&SWUR line to New Passage just south of Pilning station. The line to New Passage, including the original station, was closed, and a new station was opened on the new line nearby.^[3]

In 1900 the GWR reopened the old line to goods traffic, connecting with a new line through Severn Beach to Avonmouth. In 1928 passenger services were started on the line to Avonmouth, and a new station, Pilning Low Level, was opened on the site of the original Pilning station. The station on the Severn Tunnel line was renamed Pilning High Level.

Pilning continued to have two stations from 1928 to 1964, when the line from Pilning to Severn Beach was closed. Pilning High Level station was then renamed Pilning.

From 1924 to 1966 Pilning High Level was the terminus of a car transport service through the tunnel to Severn Tunnel Junction.

Service

Prior to the timetable change in December 2006, Pilning was served by one train each way on weekdays. From December 2006 Great Western Railway decided to cut the service to just one train a week in each direction on Saturdays only. The eastbound departure is the 08:35 service to Taunton via Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare. The westbound departure is the 15:41 service to Cardiff Central, calling at Severn Tunnel Junction, Newport and Cardiff Central. Both services are booked for a Class 150 Sprinter unit.

From the 5th November 2016 the 15:41 to Cardiff Central will be withdrawn and replaced by a 13:34 service to Taunton, due to the closure of the Westbound/Down Platform.

Future

It has been speculated ^[4] that a decision was taken to close the station by stealth after the Severnside Stadium housing development stalled. This had been an extensive new housing project near the station and would have provided much commuter traffic from the area.

Severn Beach railway station with a much better service is in fact nearer to most residential parts of the village of Pilning than Pilning station is.

See also

• Network Rail

References

1. "Revealed: Britain's busiest and quietest stations". BBC News. Retrieved 16 Dec 2015.
2. "Platform at Gloucestershire Railway Station To Close Amid Great Western Electrification". Bristol Post. Retrieved 11 Sep 2016.
3. Norris, John (1985). The Bristol & South Wales Union Railway. Oakham: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 0-901461-38-5.
4. SaveTheTrain.Org.UK

External links

• Photos of Pilning station