Bedminster railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Bedminster
code = BMT

---

caption = |150239 calls with a train to Weston-super-Mare
manager = First Great Western
locale = Bedminster
borough = Bristol
latitude = 51.44030
longitude = -2.59440
lowusage0405 = 32,489
lowusage0506 = 40,917
lowusage0607 = 43,379
platforms = 3
start = 1871

Bedminster railway station is on the Bristol to Taunton Line and serves the suburb of Bedminster in Bristol, England. It also serves the area of Windmill Hill.

History

The Bristol and Exeter Railway was opened on 14 June 1841 but a station was not provided at Bedminster until June 1871. This station was only in use for 23 years, as on 27 May 1884 a new station was opened 250 yards further away from Bristol Temple Meads station. It was now on an elevated section of line with an entrance from Windmill Hill which passed beneath the railway, and was extended in 1908 to allow access to the platforms from the other end too. [cite book | last = Oakley | first = Mike | title = Bristol Railway Stations 1840-2005 | publisher = The Dovecote Press | date = 2002 | location = Wimbourne | id = ISBN 1-90434-909-9]

The original line had just been two tracks, but on 30 April 1932 a much larger station was brought into use, now serving four tracks from two island platforms. From north to south the tracks were the Up Relief and Up Main (towards Temple Meads), Down Main and Down Relief. New station buildings were provided on both platforms but have since been swept away and replaced by basic waiting shelters.

A coal yard was provided here but goods traffic at Bedminster ceased on 1 June 1964 and staff were removed from the station in September 1968. To the east of the station was Pylle Hill Goods Depot and to the west was Malago Vale Carriage Sidings; a carriage washing machine was provided on a loop off the Down Relief line to allow carriages to be cleaned during their journey to Malago. These sidings have now closed but the Down Relief and loop are still in place as far as Bedminster to allow for short-term storage of trains away from Temple Meads.

Description

The station is unstaffed but despite this is decorated by murals throughout the entrance area and subway and has an automated customer information system and a payphone. It consists of two island platforms. That on the south side only uses one side for passeneger trains; this is Platform 1 and is only used for trains towards Weston-super-Mare. The platform on the north side is generally used for trains towards Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway. Most use Platform 2 which is alongside the Main line, but trains running on the Relief line use the opposite side, Platform 3.

With the Bristol Area Resignalling Scheme in the 1970s the local signal box was removed, the Down Relief converted to a Down Carriage Line and the Up Main signalled for reversible running between Bedminster and Temple Meads. This means that down trains can leave Temple Meads "wrong line" and is often used to allow late running fast trains to overtake stopping trains at Bedminster, which means that passengers waiting on Platform 1 for trains towards Weston-super-Mare sometimes have to hurry through the subway when their train appears on the "wrong" platform, Platform 2!

ervices

This station and all trains serving it are operated by First Great Western. The basic pattern of trains is an hourly train calling at all stations between Bristol Parkway and Weston-super-Mare. There are also peak hour services from Cardiff to Taunton.

ee also

*Public transport in Bristol

References