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Henbury Loop Line

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Henbury Loop
A double-tracked railway line passes through a cutting. The lines are clean and well-maintained, with fresh ballast. The banks of the cutting have light foliage, with few buildings visible nearby.
The line at Henbury
Overview
StatusOperational (freight only)
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleBristol
South Gloucestershire
Termini
Stations5 (0 in use)
Service
TypeHeavy rail
SystemNational Rail
Technical
Line length6 miles 39 chains (10.4 km)[1]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map

(Click to expand)

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

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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 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.[2]

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.[3]

Reopening

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Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FOSBR) and other local rail campaign groups support the reopening of the line to passengers, as well as the stations at North Filton and Henbury.[4][5][6][7] FOSBR suggest this would help services along the Severn Beach Line, allowing a Bristol Temple Meads-Avonmouth-Bristol Parkway service, and also provide services to the north of Bristol generally, the Cribbs Causeway shopping centre,[8] and the redevelopment at Filton Aerodrome.[8] South Gloucestershire Council planning committee recommended in 2011 that the line be re-opened for passenger services.[9]

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 Stapleton Road and Lawrence Hill.[7]

A one-off service, operated by First Great Western, ran on the line on 27 July 2013.[10] 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.[10] and depends in part upon the four-tracking of Filton Bank to allow more trains to operate the line from Bristol Temple Meads to Filton Abbey Wood.[11] Work on restoring four-track use on Filton Bank was completed in late 2018.

In October 2022 the opening of a new station, North Filton, on the line was pushed back to 2026.[12]

In March 2023 construction work began on Ashley Down station, which, along with Filton Abbey Wood and new stations at North Filton and Henbury, will serve a planned new route along part of the Henbury Loop Line.[13]

This line has been identified by Campaign for a Better Transport as a candidate for reopening.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Deaves, Phil. "Engineer's Line References: AFR – Avonmouth and Filton Railway". Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  2. ^ Disused Stations site record: North Filton Platform
  3. ^ Maggs, C. (1981) Rail Centres: Bristol Ian Allan ISBN 0-7110-1153-2 p. 22
  4. ^ "Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways making rail difference". This is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. 25 September 2010. Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  5. ^ "Council leader's claim is a distortion of the facts". This is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. 29 July 2011. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  6. ^ Leslie, Charlotte (10 November 2008). "Unite to fight the sale of Henbury train station". This is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  7. ^ a b Bristol Evening Post (28 March 2012). "Campaigners raise questions over Henbury rail route". This is Bristol. Northcliffe Media. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Our Case". Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  9. ^ "Planners back Filton Airfield's closure". BBC News. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  10. ^ a b "Bristol Henbury Loop train runs again after 50 years". BBC News. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Bristol Henbury Loop railway line case pushed by MP". BBC News. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  12. ^ Seabrook, Alex (28 October 2022). "Station serving new Bristol arena will not open until 2026". BristolLive. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Ashley Down station". Travelwest. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  14. ^ https://bettertransport.org.uk/sites/default/files/research-files/case-for-expanding-rail-network.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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