Shirehampton railway station

Railway station in Bristol, England

Shirehampton railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Shirehampton in Bristol, England. It is 7.6 mile (12 km) from Its three letter station code is SHH. The station has a single platform which serves trains in both directions. as of 2015 it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every 30 minutes in each direction. The station was opened in 1865 as the headquarters of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier, a railway which ran along the River Avon from to a pier at Avonmouth, and was linked to the national network in 1877. The station had a single platform to begin with, but was rebuilt with a second in 1903, as well as a signal box and a goods yard. By the 1930s the station had ten staff. The Severn Beach Line declined over the latter half of the twentieth century, with passenger numbers falling significantly. Goods services at Shirehampton ended in 1965, and all staff were withdrawn in 1967. The second platform and signal box were taken out of use in 1970, with the station buildings sold off and later destroyed by fire. Services had decreased to ten per day each direction by 2005, but have since increased to a train every 30 minutes in each direction.

The station is located in the Shirehampton district of Bristol, a primarily residential area on the north bank of the River Avon near the Severn Estuary. The A4 Bristol Portway is just to the north of the station, with a commercial vehicle hire depot in between. The railway crosses Station Road directly to the west of the station, and is bridged by Hung Road slightly to the east. The station is on the Severn Beach Line from to , 7 mile (11 km) from Temple Meads and 5 mile (8 km) from Severn Beach. It is the seventh station from Temple Meads. The next station towards Temple Meads is The next station towards Severn Beach is Portway Park and Ride, which opened in August 2023. The station is on an east–west alignment, curving towards the north. The station's southern platform was abandoned in 1970 and is overgrown. The station is only accessible via a footpath from the car park on Station Road, which is just off the A4 Portway. There is a car park with 10 spaces on Station Road, as well as stands for four bicycles. The line through Shirehampton has a speed limit of for locomotive hauled trains and for diesel multiple units. The line, which is not electrified, handles less than 5 million train tonnes per year, has a loading gauge of W6 and a route availability of 7. In the 2012/13 financial year, approximately 50,000 passengers used Shirehampton station, making it the 1,915th busiest station in the country and the eleventh busiest within the Bristol unitary authority area, busier only than This was an increase of 34% from the 2002–03 financial year, and reflected a general rise in usage of the Severn Beach Line.

The station was opened on 6 March 1865 when services began on the Bristol Port Railway and Pier (BPRP), a self contained railway which ran along the north bank of the River Avon to a deep water pier on the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth. The route was ussg standard gauge single track, with Shirehampton initially the second station along the line, 3 mile (5 km) from the southern terminus at Shirehampton was the BPRP's headquarters, and was the site where construction of the railway began – the first sod being turned on 19 February 1863 by the Mayoress of Bristol, Mrs Sholto Vere Hare. Despite the increased traffic the BPRP suffered financially, and was taken over by the CER in 1890. British Rail was split into business led sectors in the 1980s, at which time operations at Shirehampton passed to Regional Railways. At this time, all trains ran to Severn Beach, but the service pattern was irregular. Following action by Friends of Severn Beach Railway (FOSBR) and a string of protests, services had increased to 10 per day in each direction by 2005, 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, rebranded as Great Western Railway in 2015. A minimum service requirement was written into the franchise agreement, ensuring an hourly service along the line, and this has since been increased to three trains every two hours (24 trains per day). Sunday services to Severn Beach were restored in 2010. but the process was halted and later scrapped due to the fallout from the collapse of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition. A two year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013, and subsequently extended until March 2019. With the coming upgrade to the Great Western Main Line, the main line from London to Bristol is due to be electrified by 2016. However, the electrification will not extend beyond the main lines, so Shirehampton will continue to be served by diesel trains, with the current "Sprinter" units expected to be replaced by and "Turbo" units. Stephen Williams, former MP for Bristol West; and the group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification being extended to the Severn Beach Line. Improved services at Shirehampton are called for as part of the Greater Bristol Metro scheme, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area. There is an aspiration for half hourly services, with trains towards Bristol terminating alternately at and , however due to the large sections of the Severn Beach Line which are single track and to the congested main line from Temple Meads, such frequency is not currently feasible. The scheme was given the go ahead in July 2012 as part of the City Deal, whereby local councils would be given greater control over money by the government. There are also calls for the reopening of the Henbury Loop Line, which could allow a direct service from Shirehampton to via Plans for a loop were rejected by the West of England Joint Transport Board, however Bristol City Councillors voted to send the decision back to the board for further discussion.