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Pilning railway station is a minor station on the South Wales Main Line near Pilning, South Gloucestershire, England. It is from and is the last station on the English side before the Severn Tunnel through to Wales. It is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide the two train services per week from the station.
The station was opened by the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway in 1863, but was resited in 1886 when the Severn Tunnel was opened. The station had an extensive goods yard, boasting one of the largest railway communities in the Bristol area, and operated a motorail service to Wales. The goods yard was closed in 1965, and the station buildings later demolished, with very little in the way of facilities. Passenger services also declined, to two trains per day in the 1970s and the current service level of two trains per week in 2006.
The station's footbridge was removed in 2016 as part of Great Western Main Line electrification project, meaning that only eastbound trains can now use the station. Campaigners have alleged this is part of an attempted closure by stealth, although the incident raised the station's profile nationally. Pilning is one of the least-used stations in Britain, but passenger numbers have increased in recent years due to efforts by the Pilning Station Group.
Description
thumb|left|View westbound from Pilning towards the [[Severn Tunnel, prior to electrification works. The goods loops can be seen to the left and right.]]
Pilning railway station is located in the Pilning area of South Gloucestershire, north of the Bristol conurbation. The surrounding area is primarily farmland, with the village itself some further west. The station is on the South Wales Main Line between and , from and from via Bristol Parkway. West of Pilning, the railway descends into a cutting and then into the Severn Tunnel, emerging in Wales at , away. There is an old brick station building on Platform 1 but it is not in railway use. Due to there being no westbound trains, a fares easement is in place allowing passengers to travel to in order to return eastbound to Pilning. Other Great Western Railway services between Cardiff and Taunton or also pass through non-stop, again two trains per hour in each direction on weekdays, one train per hour at weekends.
History
Bristol and South Wales Union Railway
Pilning railway station first opened on 8 September 1863 when services began on the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway (BSWUR). The railway ran from to , north of Bristol on the banks of the River Severn, where passengers could transfer onto a ferry to cross the river into Wales. The line, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was built as single track broad gauge. Pilning was from Temple Meads, initially the fifth station along the line, between east and west. There was a single platform on the north side of the line, and a siding to the south. The station was east of the village of Pilning in Gloucestershire, on Pilning Street, a road between Pilning and Easter Compton, which was further south. The immediate area was farmland with little in the way of housing, although there was a pub, The Plough, across the road from the station. To the east the line crossed the road at a level crossing, which was operated from the station using levers. There were initially six trains per day on weekdays in each direction, with three trains per day on Sundays.
In 1868 the BSWUR was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway (GWR), which had from the beginning operated all BSWUR services; and in 1873 the line was converted to standard gauge. Parliamentary permission was gained in 1872, with construction beginning in 1873. GWR chairman Daniel Gooch and other directors visited Pilning in 1884 as part of an inspection tour of the works. The route to the tunnel diverged from the New Passage line east of Pilning, necessitating the building of a replacement station on the new line, approximately south of the original. The new station opened with the first passenger services through the tunnel on 1 December 1886. The New Passage branch, including the original station, was closed to passengers the same day, despite requests from local residents that a reduced service continue to operate. The route remained in goods use to allow trains to deliver coal to the Severn Tunnel pumping station, which was on a spur off the New Passage route.