The Clifton Extension Railway was a

joint railway A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company: those companies very often supplying the traction over the railway. United Kingdom There are many examples of joint railway working in the United Kingdom. ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, owned by the

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) and the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

(MR) companies.

Description of line

The railway ran from a junction with the GWR at Narroways Hill, just north of

Stapleton Road railway station Stapleton Road railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and Cross Country Route, serving the inner-city district of Easton in Bristol, England. It is from . Its three letter station code is SRD. The station has two platforms, four runnin ...

, to

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avo ...

. The branch was joined at Ashley Hill junction, just beyond Narroways Hill, by a line which left the

Midland main line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

at Kingswood Junction, south-west of Fishponds station. The first section of line through Montpelier to

Clifton Down Clifton Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England, north of the village of Clifton. With its neighbour Durdham Down to the northeast, it constitutes the large area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking and ...

opened on 1 October 1874. The greatest engineering feature of the branch was a mile-long tunnel underneath

. The section through the tunnel from Clifton Down station to Sneyd Park Junction, where it connected to the Bristol Port Railway, opened to goods traffic in 1877 and to passenger trains on 1 September 1885.

Legal history

Originally the railway was promoted by the ''Bristol Port Railway and Pier Company'', incorporated under the ''Bristol Port Railway and Pier Act'' of 17 June 1862. In 1871 the railway was transferred to the Great Western and Midland railway companies jointly, under the ''Great Western and Midland railway companies (Clifton and Bristol) Act'' of 25 May 1871, and the ''Midland Railway (Additional Powers) Act'' of 25 July 1890. The line was administered by the ''Clifton Extension Railway Joint Committee'' until 1894, and from then the ''Great Western and Midland Railways Joint Committee''.

Recent history

The line from Narroways Hill is now part of the Severn Beach Line. The connection to the Midland Railway closed in 1965, and the thirteen arch viaduct over the River Frome valley was demolished in 1968.

References

Rail transport in Bristol British joint railway companies Railway lines opened in 1874 1862 establishments in England {{England-rail-transport-stub