BUSY first trains! Full report to follow.
First train to Ashley Down - the 07:25 this morning - a 2 car 165 from platform 7 at Temple Meads, and stuffed with people there to welcome the new service - a mixture of "the usual culprid" campaigners there to celebrate a magnificecnt landmmark they have been advocating for years, with sea of yellow "Bristol Rail Campaign" T shirts. To the mixture add a very wide range of other campaign / rail interests, and a load of social media reporters. Crucially too, a whole load of local folks there to welcome their new station. I would guess around 200 people on the train. A sprinkling joined at Lawrence Hill, and a good chunk more at Dtapleton Road.
Crowded platform as we pulled into Ashley Down clearly
GWR▸ were in some anticipation of this as there were three or four "customer service" types there looking after a well behaved, but excited, crowd, and at least a couple of managers - I'm not sure how much was duty and how much interest and I'm pretty sure it was a mix.
It's the "opposite" of Portway Parkway as a new station if you want to describe it as that. Two platforms, and a magnificient bridge an lift rather than just a single plaform, but very limited facilities away from the station. Which perhaps explains the lack of a "big show" opening - nowhere for people to park or to run the event.
I took the first train towards Temple Mead along with a rather large crowd, but bailed at Stapleton Road to catch the seond arrival. A very much quieter train, but still a number riding up to Ashley Down, and still quite a gathering there. A change to take a few more photos, and look round in a bit more detail, including outside the station.
I walked down to the main road - and where work has been done to apply signage (including towards the sports grounds), nothing has been done to improve the bus stop which is minimal, dirty, and lost in the undergrowth. Not sure even where the bus stops across the road. The track down is reasoably wide, and hard surfaces, but throught the trees and looks unlit. Speaking with a local lady, she feels safe using it but would suspect that not everyone will.
The area of Bristol comprises largely nices terraced Town Houses, but built before every family owned a car or two and walking across the hill to the main Gloucester Road, I was struck by the nose to tail cars parked on both sided of the residantail streets. The station, stated to have an immediate cathcment of around 12,000, should have a rich vein of people moving away from driving to harvest - that's assuming the trains reliably go where and when they want. Random stop at a coffee bar on Gloucester Road to upload that ealier report, and then onwards for the rest of the day. Just pulling out of Swindon on my way home now.
