The Henbury Loop Line, also known as the Filton to Avonmouth Line, is a railway line following the boundary between

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 ...

and

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

between the Severn Beach Line at Hallen Marsh Junction,

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...

and the

Cross Country Route A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...

Filton Filton is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England, north of Bristol. Along with nearby Patchway and Bradley Stoke, Filton forms part of the Bristol urban area and has become an overflow settlement for the city. Filton Church d ...

. 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,

Henbury Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately north west of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle Estate, Blaise Ha ...

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 Patchway is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated north-north west of central Bristol. The town has become an overflow settlement for Bristol and is contiguous with Bristol's urban area, along with the nearby towns of Filton and Bra ...

. 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 Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its out-of-town shopping and leisure facilities. The retail and leisure complex takes its name fr ...

shopping centre, and the redevelopment at

Filton Aerodrome Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, north of Bristol, England. Description The airfield was bounded by the A38 road to the east, and the former London to Avonmouth r ...

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 Halcrow Group Limited was a multinational engineering consultancy company, based in the United Kingdom Halcrow was one of the UK's largest consultancies, with origins stretching back to 1868. The UK-based consultancy specialised in the provision ...

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 Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city ...

, 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 Filton Bank is the name given to a section of the Bristol to Birmingham line in Bristol, England, roughly between and stations. Description The line runs from Dr Days Junction where the Great Western Main Line branches off from the Bristo ...

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