The Henbury Loop Line, also known as the Filton to Avonmouth Line, is a railway line following the boundary between
Bristol and
South Gloucestershire between the
Severn Beach Line at Hallen Marsh Junction,
Avonmouth and the
Cross Country Route/
South Wales Main Line at
Filton. It is currently only used for freight.
History
The line was opened on 9 May 1910, as a more direct route to Avonmouth docks, and was initially known as the Avonmouth and Filton Railway. Although the line was mainly intended for freight services, passenger services were also provided until 1915, with stations at
Filton Halt,
Charlton
Charlton may refer to:
People
* Charlton (surname)
* Charlton (given name)
Places Australia
* Charlton, Queensland
* Charlton, Victoria
* Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...
,
Henbury and
Hallen. In 1917 a small station was opened at
Chittening Platform to serve a new factory. The line was fully reopened to passenger traffic in 1922. Filton Halt, Charlton and Hallen stations did not reopen, but in 1926 a new station, North Filton Platform, was opened on the site of Filton Halt. The line closed to passenger traffic in 1964.
In 1971 a curve was opened to link the line to the South Wales Main Line at
Patchway. This was to facilitate traffic to and from South Wales, including zoo excursions 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 t ...
.
Reopening
Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways
Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FoSBR) is a Bristol-based campaign group, calling for better rail transport in the Bristol area.
Formation
FoSBR was formed in 1995 as ''Friends of Severn Beach Railway'', to protest against the potential ...
(FOSBR) and other local rail campaign groups support the reopening of the line to passengers, as well as the stations at and .
FOSBR suggest this would help services along the
Severn Beach Line, allowing a -- service, and also provide services to the north of Bristol generally, the
Cribbs Causeway shopping centre,
and the redevelopment at
Filton Aerodrome.
South Gloucestershire Council
South Gloucestershire Council is the local authority of South Gloucestershire, England, covering an area to the north of the city of Bristol. As a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority it has the powers of a non-metropolitan county a ...
planning committee
A planning committee in the United Kingdom is a committee of local authority councillors that sit as the local planning authority to determine planning applications.
Advice is usually given to the committee by planning officers who provide a reco ...
recommended in 2011 that the line be re-opened for passenger services.
A consultation document produced for the West of England Partnership by the
Halcrow Group suggested passenger services use the line as a spur. Campaigners objected that the suggested services would not call at stations such as and .
A one-off service, operated by
First Great Western, ran on the line on 27 July 2013.
The train operator hoped to use the service to demonstrate the feasibility of running services over the line, and to make the case for suitable funding.
and depends in part upon the four-tracking of
Filton Bank to allow more trains to operate the line from to . Work on restoring four-track use on Filton Bank was completed in late 2018.
This line has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a candidate for reopening.
[https://bettertransport.org.uk/sites/default/files/research-files/case-for-expanding-rail-network.pdf ]
References
{{Transport in Bristol
Rail transport in Bristol
Transport in South Gloucestershire District
Railway lines in South West England
Standard gauge railways in England