Ashley Down station event Bristol // Credit: Network Rail
Residents of Ashley Down station are once more connected to the rail network for the first time in 60 years as their new station opened this morning after the inauguration event yesterday.
The new railway station is built on the same site as the original, which opened over 100 years ago and was previously named Ashley Hill.
It closed in 1964 as part of Dr Beechings modernisation plan.
West of England Mayor Dan Norris, accompanied by schoolchildren and local scouts, inaugurated the UK’s latest railway station.
The newly opened station, following the Portway Park & Ride, represents a segment of the £300 million-plus investment by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
This initiative, in collaboration with GWR, Network Rail, and Bristol City Council, aims to make rail travel more accessible to more people than ever before.
Ashley Down station event Bristol // Credit: Network Rail
“If you give people easy access to good, reliable public transport, they will use it. Now 15,000 people in Lockleaze, Horfield, and Ashley Down will live closer to a railway station than they did yesterday.
The new station looks fantastic, and I’m thrilled to have taken the first train to arrive there in 60 years. But this is only the beginning of our quiet rail revolution. Our Reverse Beeching programme is now in full swing, and we are moving on to plans to deliver stations North Filton and in Henbury next.
Mayor Dan Norris
The official opening was attended by notable guests such as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and MP for Bristol North West, Darren Jones, the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Andrew Varney, representatives from GWR, Network Rail, various subcontractors, the Severnside Rail Community Partnership, Lockleaze Community Hub, Sustrans, along with children from Ashley Down Primary School and the 1st Bristol Muslim Scouts group.
“New stations such as this are vital in bringing the railway closer to people as we become mindful of the need to live and travel more sustainably. Working successfully with our partners at the West of England Combined Authority, Bristol City Council, and Network Rail, we are really pleased to be able to open this station, once again connecting this local community to the wider rail network for the first time in 60 years.
We are excited for the benefits this station will bring to the local economy, to residents, businesses and to leisure travellers alike.”
Tom Pierpoint, GWR Business Development Portfolio Director
Ashley Down station team with Dan Norris // Credit: Network Rail
Guests gathered to reveal a newly commissioned artwork at Ashley Down station. Titled “PROGRESSION,” this community art project was a collaborative effort by the 1st Bristol Muslim Scouts and the Lockleaze Community Hub. Local artist Aumairah Hassan spearheaded the project, with backing from the Severnside Community Rail Partnership.
Network Rail & BAM team Ashley Down station // Credit: Network Rail
Ashley Down features two platforms and will become a new halt on the hourly service connecting Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood.
The entrance to the new station is situated at the junction of Concorde Way and Station Road. Concorde Way is expected to reopen concurrently with the public launch of the station.
This new station is a segment of the initiative to reinstate the Henbury Line, with additional stations anticipated at North Filton and Henbury.
So the ‘Reverse Beeching ‘ programme is in ‘full swing’, is it? What about the return of passenger services to the Portishead railway line , which arguably, is far more important. Apparently, our useless new government has vetoed the project even though thousands of pounds have been spent on planning and putting the business case forward.
Nice to see the new Ashley Down station now officially opened. What about adding another new railway station to serve Bristol City Ashton Gate stadium and to reopen the former Portishead line. And to electrify from Bristol Parkway and Patchway to Bristol Temple Meads.
We do not need electrification with all its hideous jumbled steelwork blotting the landscape. If anything battery power would be a more cost-effective mode.
Geoff Marshall would be so pleased with another new railway station in Bristol. About time that a new railway station would be built to serve Bristol Rovers FC Memorial Stadium.
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So the ‘Reverse Beeching ‘ programme is in ‘full swing’, is it? What about the return of passenger services to the Portishead railway line , which arguably, is far more important. Apparently, our useless new government has vetoed the project even though thousands of pounds have been spent on planning and putting the business case forward.
Nice to see the new Ashley Down station now officially opened. What about adding another new railway station to serve Bristol City Ashton Gate stadium and to reopen the former Portishead line. And to electrify from Bristol Parkway and Patchway to Bristol Temple Meads.
We do not need electrification with all its hideous jumbled steelwork blotting the landscape. If anything battery power would be a more cost-effective mode.
Geoff Marshall would be so pleased with another new railway station in Bristol. About time that a new railway station would be built to serve Bristol Rovers FC Memorial Stadium.