First train leaves Ashley Down railway station in Bristol
It's the first train in more than 60 years.
After more than 60 years of closure, the first train has left Ashley Down railway station.
The stop opens to the public on Saturday (28th September).
The station is located between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton, near Bishoptston, providing a new service to the 13,000 people who live nearby.
It’s been rebuilt on the former Ashley Hill stop, which closed down in 1964.
The work is part of the West of England Combined Authority's project to re-open stations the area.
Located close to the Memorial Stadium cricket ground, it’s hoped the stop will ease congestion on match days.
Tom Pierpoint is the business development portfolio director at Great Western Railway.
“It’s all about making it easier to travel within the Bristol area by sustainable means,” he said, “but for us within the rail industry it’s brilliant to have this investment and this focus to make the railway a really key part of the local transport network around Bristol.
“When you’re looking at where to put a train station there’s all sorts of constraints based on the number of lines, existing services, the different types of tracks and this works.
“But then we’ve also got 13,000 people within a short walk of the station here, it really does provide much better connectivity to local residents.”
Regional Mayor Dan Norris added: “It’s the first railway station that’s been built since the one last year at Portway but actually over the last hundred years we’ve only built two new stations in Bristol.
“So an incredibly rare event but an event that’s going to happen more frequently in the future because we’ve got to get more people using their cars less often and using public transport more.
“People here can connect with Temple Meads station and that’s hugely significant because if you can do that you can get anywhere around the country.
“What is wonderful though, is how quick it is. I often drive this journey because there hasn’t been a station here since the 1960s but now there is one and it took about four minutes to get to Temple Meads.”
The first public train will leave at 07:33 on Saturday 28th September.