Yatton railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Yatton
code = YAT

---

caption = Yatton station in 2005
manager = First Great Western
locale = Yatton
borough = North Somerset
latitude = 51.39100
longitude = -2.82780
usage0405 = 0.247
usage0506 = 0.257
usage0607 = 0.283
platforms = 2
years = 1841
events = Opened

Yatton railway station serves the village of Yatton in North Somerset, England. It is 12 miles (19 km) south west of Bristol Temple Meads railway station on the Bristol to Taunton Line.

History

The station was opened by the Bristol and Exeter Railway on 14 June 1841 as Clevedon Road. The station was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel with the main station building on the platform for eastbound trains towards Bristol, and a smaller building on the westbound platform. A hotel was provided adjacent to the eastbound platform for people travelling to Clevedon.

The Clevedon branch line opened 28 July 1847 when the name of the station was changed to Yatton. A small bay platform was provided at the west end of the eastbound platform for the branch trains and an unusual train shed with louvre ventilation was provided for shelter. This was replaced in 1956 by a second-hand canopy brought from Dauntsey railway station. This still stands, but a matching one on the westbound platform has since been removed.

Yatton became even more important on 3 August 1869 when the Cheddar Valley Railway was opened, which became famous for the transport of strawberries from stations such as Axbridge and Cheddar. The line was extended to Wells on 5 April 1870. This joined there with the East Somerset Railway line from Witham (constructed between 1859 and 1862), and through services from Yatton to Witham became normal for this line.

Another bay platform was provided for the Cheddar Valley trains at the west end of the westbound platform, and this was also used by the Wrington Vale Light Railway trains that shared the Cheddar line as far as Congresbury railway station from 4 December 1901. Goods traffic was handled alongside this bay platform, but the small engine shed was situated next to the Clevedon branch.

In the 1920s the main line through Yatton was stretched to capacity and so goods loops were laid either side of the station – east for 1.25 miles to Claverham from 6 April 1925 and west for 1.75 miles to Huish level crossing on 26 May 1925. The station remained a two-track pinch point. The Claverham loops were closed on 6 September 1964 and the Yatton loops west of the station were cut back to just 0.5 mile from 24 January 1972, although they have since been rebuilt to allow their use by passenger trains.

The branch lines have all closed too: Wrington on 14 September 1931 (although goods traffic continued until 10 June 1963; Cheddar on 9 September 1963 (goods 1 October 1964), and Clevedon on 3 October 1966. Goods traffic at Yatton itself ceased from 29 November 1965.

In the early days of the railway Yatton station was provided to serve Clevedon, and Yatton itself was not considered of much significance. However the arrival of the railway stimulated growth in the village during the Victorian era and many new houses were built. Trains now carry commuters to Bristol and beyond from before 07:00. Despite the station nameboards proclaiming "Yatton for Clevedon", there is little public transport between the two places.

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Layout

The area on both sides of the station where the bay platforms were are now used as car parks. Brunel's main station building was refurbished in 2006 and is still in use for selling tickets. There are plans to convert the redundant westbound building into a cafe, and the hotel is still operating as a pub. An active group of "friends" have renovated the station gardens and are hoping that the roof of the footbridge that links the two platforms will soon be restored.

The former Cheddar Valley branch line is now the Strawberry Line railway walk.

ervices

The station is managed and all trains are operated by First Great Western. The basic train service comprises two trains in each direction each hour. One train is the Bristol Parkway to Weston-super-Mare service that calls at all stations; the second is the faster Cardiff Central to Taunton service. A few peak period services to and from London Paddington call at Yatton, but due to the length of the High Speed Trains used, only the front carriages stop on the platform. The 0640 CrossCountry service from Plymouth to Newcastle also makes a stop at Yatton at 0839 to serve as an extra peak commuter service to Bristol, but there is no southbound return. This is unusual for the CrossCountry stopping patterns.

Regular bus services to Congresbury, Claverham and Cleeve depart from the main road which crosses the line by a bridge at the east end of the station.
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References

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