MetroWest rail upgrades

Transforming rail travel in Bristol and the West of England. 

Bristol Portway Park & Ride station under construction

MetroWest is a West of England Combined Authority programme of railway upgrades aimed at improving capacity and connectivity in the region, generating over a million new rail journeys and giving 80,000 more people access to train services across the four local authority areas:

  • Bath and North East Somerset
  • Bristol
  • North Somerset
  • South Gloucestershire

What are the benefits?

The programme aims to increase the frequency of services on existing suburban routes as well as introducing new services and stations across the region. Highlights of the programme include: 

More services

Increase in services between;

  • Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach (achieved December 2021)
  • Bristol and Westbury
  • Bristol and Yate, and on to Gloucester

New services

New passenger services between:

  • Bristol Temple Meads to Pill and Portishead
  • Bristol Temple Meads/Bristol Parkway and Henbury, via North Filton

New stations

There will be six new stations at:

  • Ashley Down
  • Henbury
  • North Filton
  • Portway Park & Ride (open and operational)
  • Pill
  • Portishead

There are also separate plans for a new station at Charfield in South Gloucestershire. 

These upgrades are partly enabled by improvements made to the existing network in recent years, including signal upgrades at Bristol Temple Meads, the installation of two new railway lines between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood, and the upgrade of Bristol East Junction at Bristol Temple Meads.  

Phases of development

MetroWest is being delivered in two main phases.

MetroWest 1

  • Increase in services on the Severn Beach line (hourly between Bristol Temple Meads and Severn Beach and half-hourly between Bristol Temple Meads and Avonmouth) – achieved December 2021. 
  • Creation of a new railway station at Portway Park & Ride, Bristol – now open to the public. 
  • Increase in services between Bristol and Westbury – timetable planning underway. 
  • New hourly passenger service between Bristol Temple Meads and Portishead, with stations at Pill and Portishead – planning decision from the Department for Transport due summer 2024. 

MetroWest 2

  • New hourly passenger service between Bristol Temple Meads and Henbury, with stations at Ashley Down, North Filton and Henbury. 
  • Increase to half-hourly services between Bristol Temple Meads and Yate, and on to Gloucester. 

For more information on projects, please search the TravelWest website.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the work taking place in your area please call our dedicated 24-hour National Helpline on 03457 11 41 41 or visit our contact us page.