|
Pill railway station was a railway station on the Portishead Branch Line, west of , serving the village of Pill in North Somerset, England. The station was opened by the Bristol and Portishead Pier and Railway Company on 18 April 1867. It had two platforms, on either side of a passing loop, with a goods yard and signal box later additions. Services increased until the 1930s, at which point a half-hourly service operated. However the Portishead Branch was recommended for closure by the Beeching report, and the station was closed on 7 September 1964, although the line saw freight traffic until 1981. Regular freight trains through the station began to run again in 2002 when Royal Portbury Dock was connected to the rail network. The station is due to be reopened to passenger traffic in 2019 as part of MetroWest, a scheme to increase rail services in the Bristol area. The new station will have a single platform, an accessible footbridge and a car park, with trains running between and Bristol. == History == Pill railway station was opened on 18 April 1867 by the Bristol and Portishead Pier and Railway Company, when services began on their line from the Bristol and Exeter Railway at Portishead Junction to a pier on the Severn Estuary at . The line was built as broad-gauge, and was largely single track. The station was sited in a cutting close to the old centre of Pill, from the line's terminus at Portishead, from and from the Great Western Railway's terminus at .〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Engineers' Line References: POD Portishead Branch )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Engineers' Line References: MLN1 Paddington to North Road Junction )〕〔Railways in the United Kingdom are, for historical reasons, measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to the mile.〕 To the east, the railway passed through the village and crossed a valley on the brick-built Pill Viaduct, while to the west the line was largely through flat, open countryside.〔〔 The station was initially the second along the line from Portishead Junction, after and before .〔 The station at Pill was aligned roughly north-west/south-east, with the line bridged to the east by Station Road and Myrtle Hill. There were two platforms, separated by two running lines, forming a passing loop. The southern "down" platform was for trains towards Portishead, the northern "up" platform for trains towards Bristol.〔 Each platform was provided with a brick shelter and steps up to Station Road. The station building was sited on Station Road, west of the platforms. There were initially six trains per day in each direction on weekdays and one on Sundays, operated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway. The Great Western took over the Bristol and Exeter in 1876, and in 1884 took over ownership of the Bristol and Portishead. Services increased to nine trains per day on weekdays by 1889.〔〔 The line was relaid as standard gauge in 1880, coinciding with a lengthening of the platforms, and by 1909 there were 13 trains per day on weekdays and two trains on Sundays.〔〔 The double track loop through the station was extended at both ends in March 1912, with the platforms also extended. A small goods yard and coal depot was built at the north-west end of the station at the same time.〔〔〔 A signal box was built on the southern platform at the end of the First World War.〔 By 1929, services had increased to 21 trains per day on weekdays and eight per day on Sundays.〔 This allowed a train every half hour, with one train per hour running to Bristol Temple Meads and the other terminating at .〔 Passenger traffic was mainly commuters, to both Bristol and Portishead, as well as people who wished to use the Pill ferry across the River Avon to Shirehampton. During the Second World War, many evacuees from Bristol commutered into the city from Pill. The station staff at this time consisted of a station master, two porters and two female signallers.〔 When the railways were nationalised in 1948, Pill came under the aegis of the Western Region of British Railways. Passenger services had reduced by 1949 to 13 trains per day on weekdays and seven on Sundays.〔 In 1963, the Beeching report suggested the complete withdrawal of services along the line, and so goods services at Pill were ended on 10 June 1963; with the station closing completely on 7 September 1964.〔〔 In the final year of operation, there were only six trains on weekdays and none on Sundays.〔 Freight trains continued to pass through the station, but their number decreased over time, and the line fell out of regular use after 30 March 1981. The line however was kept intact by British Rail, with occasional freight trains, and in 2002 a single track was relaid to allow rail access to Royal Portbury Dock.〔〔 At this time remnants of both platforms could be seen and the station buildings were in commercial use.〔 (Line open, station closed)|next= (Line and station closed)|route=Bristol and Exeter Railway Portishead Railway (1867–1876)}} 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pill railway station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|