The Portishead Branch
The Portishead Railway is a branch line railway running from Portishead in North Somerset to the main line immediately west of Bristol, England. It was constructed by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway Company, but it was always operated by its main line neighbour, and was more usually thought of as the Portishead branch or the Portishead railway. It opened as a broad gauge (7 ft 1⁄4 in [2,140 mm]) line to connect new docks at Portbury, at the west side of the mouth of the River Avon, with the railway network. The line opened to Portishead in 1867, and to the docks in 1879. The docks were always overshadowed by Bristol and Avonmouth docks. The ordinary passenger service declined in the twentieth century, leading to closure to passengers in 1964, and to all traffic in 1981.When a new high capacity freight terminal was opened at the site of the Royal Portbury Dock, the line as far as that point was reopened to accommodate the new traffic, in 2002. Public consultation took place in 2015 regarding the reopening of the entire line to passenger traffic in 2020, as part of the MetroWest proposals. By 2020, the line was scheduled to reopen in December 2024.
This gallery includes images taken over various years charting the progress of the line clearance and reinstatement.
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2022 |
The view from Sheepway Road looking towards Bristol on the 24th December 2019.
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The view looking east from Shipway Gate Farm at Sheepway Road on the 21st January 2022.
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The view from Sheepway Road on the 24th December 2019 looking towards Portishead.
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The view looking west at Shipway Farm looking east from Sheepway Road on the 21st January 2022, with vegetation clearance exposing the former Portishead line.
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The view looking towards Portishead from Bristol taken on the 4th December 2019.
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The view at the former Portishead Station on the 21st January 2021 looking west with recent vegetation clearance.
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The view looking towards Bristol at Portishead taken on the 4th December 2019.
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The view at the former Portishead Station on the 21st January 2021 looking east with recent vegetation clearance.
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Original pointwork at the former Portishead station site on the 21st January 2022. The view looking east.
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The former Portishead station site on the 21st January 2022 with mature trees still to be removed from the track bed.
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A view from Sheepway Road nearest Jn19 looking west on the 15th January 2022 with vegetation clearance exposing the former Portishead line.
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The view from Sheepway Road nearest Jn19 on the 26th April 2022 looking east with recent vegetation clearance exposing the former Portishead Branch.
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