Bridgwater North railway station was the terminus of the Bridgwater Railway, which ran from a junction with the

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreec ...

at Edington, between 1890 and 1954. Although often regarded as part of the

, and effectively worked as part of that system, the Bridgwater Railway remained nominally independent until the railway Grouping of 1923 when it was vested in the

group.

The Station

Originally named Bridgwater, the station was opened on 21 July 1890. It was renamed ''Bridgwater North'' in 1949 when it came under

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ownership, to avoid confusion with the larger former

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

(GWR) station in the town. The station consisted of an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

with a canopy, goods yard and a connection to riverside wharves.

Closure

The passenger station closed when the branch service was withdrawn on 1 December 1952. The line to Edington Burtle via Cossington was closed completely in 1954 after goods traffic was diverted over a new connection to the GWR docks branch which continued until 1962. Bridgwater railway station remains open on the Bristol to Taunton Line. The site is now occupied by a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

supermarket and an adjacent large retail park.

References

* * Harrison, J. D. (1990). ''The Bridgwater Railway''. Wallingford: The Oakwood Press.

External links

S&DJR stations - Bridgwater

{{end box Disused railway stations in Somerset Former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1890 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1952 Bridgwater 1890 establishments in England 1952 disestablishments in England