We’re working hard to create better rail links in Bristol and the West of England. It’s part of our mission to help you stay connected to others and access even more work, education and leisure opportunities throughout the country.
A bigger, brighter and better Bristol Temple Meads station
We’ve partnered with Bristol City Council, Homes England and the West of England Combined Authority to create three new entrances at Bristol Temple Meads.
It’s part of the Bristol Temple Quarter programme, which will help unlock land for new homes, jobs and public spaces around the station. It’s supported by £95m of government funding and will help turn the area into a world-class gateway to Bristol and the West of England.
We’re also working on the station through the Bristol Rail Regeneration programme. Our teams are refurbishing the vast and historic roof of the station to make the station brighter and more welcoming.
We’re also rewiring the station to bring the electrical systems up to date. This will make Bristol Temple Meads more energy efficient and allow for an upgrade to customer information systems around the station.It will also enable us to increase the retail offer at the station with more shops and food and drink options.
Together, Bristol Temple Quarter and the Rail Regeneration programmes bring the first major improvements to Bristol Temple Meads in 100 years. They will give you a more modern, efficient and safe transport hub, while also preserving a vital part of the city’s heritage for generations.
MetroWest Network
The MetroWest programme will also improve rail travel in the West of England. It will introduce seven new stations, re-open a section of disused railway and bring the railway to more communities across Bath and North-East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.
The programme as a whole will create over 2.7m new rail journeys and give 100,000 more people access to the railway – for even more work, leisure and travel opportunities.
The West of England Combined Authority has funded the £215m programme, which is a collaboration between us, Department for Transport and the four local authorities.
Portway Park and Ride – the first of seven new stations
Portway Park and Ride is the first new station to open in Bristol in 96 years. It was completed through the MetroWest programme and opened in July last year.
The £5.8m station between Shirehampton and Avonmouth connects the existing bus Park and Ride with the popular Severn Beach line.
It’s close to the M4 and M5 interchange, offering an additional transport option for the 9,000 people who work in the surrounding area. And it’s a great alternative for those traveling into Bristol city centre or wanting to connect with the wider rail network.
Marcus Jones, route director for the Western region at Network Rail, called it “the latest development in our efforts to transform rail travel for our passengers in and around Bristol and the wider West of England area”.
Other improvements
We also have other stations in the works, including Ashley Down Station – due to open this year in Bristol. The new station will serve the housing development already in the works around this area.
Meanwhile, we plan to build new stations in North Filton, Henbury and Charfield in South Gloucestershire.
Henbury and Charfield will reconnect the communities to the passenger railway for the first time since the 1960s.
Meanwhile, North Filton will serve a newer and emerging community, surrounding the Brabazon arena.
We’ve also increased the number of trains running between Bristol and Gloucester to give you even more options along this busy commuter route.
The Restoring Your Railway programme is leading the reopening of passenger services through Pill and Portishead in North Somerset, reinstating a section of the railway and building two new stations. It’s also part of the MetroWest programme and will lead to hourly services from these stations into Bristol.
And we’ve improved track, level crossings and signalling in this region. It’s helping us run more trains along routes including the Great Western Main Line and the Severn Beach Line.
