Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 23, 2016

Avonmouth railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Avonmouth in Bristol, England. It is 9.0 mi from Bristol Temple Meads. The station has two platforms, on either side of two running lines. it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every forty minutes to Bristol Temple Meads and one every two hours to Severn Beach. The station was opened in 1877 by the Bristol Port Railway and Pier, a railway which ran along the River Avon from Hotwells to a pier at Avonmouth. The station, originally known as Avonmouth Dock, had a single platform, but was rebuilt with two platforms by the Great Western and Midland Railways in 1885 when they began services via Clifton Down. The station was enhanced numerous times in the early part of the twentieth century, and by 1913 employed 72 staff. Facilities included a goods yard, signal box and engine shed. The Severn Beach Line declined over the latter half of the twentieth century, with passenger numbers falling significantly. Goods services at Avonmouth ended in 1966, and all staff were withdrawn in 1967. Services had decreased to 10 per day each direction by 2005, but have since increased to 25 trains per day.