Worle railway station

Railway station in Weston super Mare, England

Worle railway station, on the Bristol to Exeter line, serves the Worle, West Wick and St Georges suburbs of Weston super Mare in North Somerset, England. It is 16 mile (26 km) west of Bristol Temple Meads railway station, and 134 mile (216 km) from London Paddington. Its three letter station code is WOR. It was opened in 1990 by British Rail. The station, which has two platforms, 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, mainly half hourly services between and , and between and The station's car park was significantly expanded in 2013. The line through Worle is not electrified, but there is significant local support for it to be electrified as part of the 21st century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line, partly motivated by worries that unless the line is electrified, Weston super Mare will lose direct services to London.

Worle railway station is located in the east of Weston super Mare, North Somerset serving the suburbs of Worle, West Wick and St Georges. The surrounding area is primarily residential, but with several commercial developments, including the Worle Parkway office development next to the station. The station is located just off the B3440 Bristol Road, near the M5 motorway junction 21 and the A370. There is a car park on the north, east and south sides of the station. The station is on the Bristol to Exeter line, 16 mile (26 km) from and 134 mile (216 km) from London Paddington (via ). Railways in the United Kingdom are, for historical reasons, measured in [[Chain (unit) It is the fifth station along the line from Bristol Temple Meads. The station is oriented along an axis at 57 degrees to the meridian. Access between the platforms is via an open footbridge with long, sloped ramps for step free access. Ticket machines are available, and a small ticket office operates during the weekday morning peak, but the station is otherwise unstaffed. Help points are provided, allowing travellers to ask questions of a call centre. There are metal and glass waiting shelters on both platforms – two on the eastbound platform and one on the westbound. Most recently, improved lighting and CCTV has been provided and for the first time since construction, electronic train arrival boards with automated voice announcements have been provided on both platforms and also a silent, less detailed digital arrivals / departures board adjacent to the ticket office. The typical journey time to Bristol Temple Meads is 25 minutes, to Weston super Mare is 8 minutes. The local services described above are formed using , , and diesel multiple unit trains. Services to and from London are formed of Class 800s, which are longer than the station, so passengers in the front carriages have to move to a different carriage to get out. CrossCountry services pass through the station throughout the day, operating services between Cornwall and Scotland, but do not stop. Occasional Great Western Railway intercity services between London and Weston super Mare or Taunton and Exeter also pass through non stop. The modern Worle railway station is the fourth station to serve Worle. The first station, east of the modern station, was opened in 1841 as Banwell and was known as Worle from 1869 to 1884, then as Puxton and Worle from 1922 until closure in 1964. From 1884 to 1922, there was a station called Worle on the loop line to Weston super Mare, west of the modern station. There was also a station on the nearby Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway, which was known as Worle from 1897 to 1913, then as Worle (Moor Lane) until 1917, and as Worle Town until closure in 1940. The station at Worle was developed as a joint initiative between British Rail and Avon County Council. It cost £700,000 and was built using lightweight construction materials due to being sited on marshy ground. The first train was a westbound Regional Railways service, operated by Sprinter DMU 150270. All services were local ones – no scheduled intercity services would call at Worle until 2007. The Wessex franchise was amalgamated with the Great Western franchise into the Greater Western franchise from 2006, and responsibility passed to First Great Western, a subsidiary company of FirstGroup, which was later rebranded Great Western Railway. Great Western Railway services to and from London Paddington started calling at Worle in 2007. Due to the trains being longer than the platforms, a selective door opening system was used to prevent passengers opening doors which were not adjacent to the platform. The works, part of a large transport scheme called the Weston Package, included construction of a new council run car park containing 320 spaces on the South side of the station, better facilities for cyclists and motorcyclists, and a bus interchange. A bus link to the nearby Queensway retail park was also included in the scheme. The expansion took over unused land to the east and south of the station, and required the removal of slowworms and grass snakes to a nature reserve in Cheddar. The work, which started in April 2013, was completed later the same year with the new car park opening on 3 September 2013. Worle has had a large number of incidents of railway vandalism and antisocial behaviour, and the stretch of line through Worle is considered one of the most vandalised in the United Kingdom – obstructions have been left on the line and stones have being thrown at railway staff. There have been several incidents of train guards being attacked by passengers who refused to pay their fares, including one incident where the guard was dragged from the train and knocked to the ground. Vandals have also damaged the station's ticket machines, attacked passengers and slashed the tyres of cars parked at the station.

Worle is on the Weston super Mare/ corridor, one of the main axes of the Greater Bristol Metro, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area. The group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification of the line through Nailsea & Backwell, as does MP for Weston super Mare John Penrose.