New bid to reopen St Anne’s Park Station

[whole diary]

[Robin Summerhill]

One thing that crossed my mind, given that Keynsham station buildings were demolished in the 1970s, was perhaps doing the same thing at St Annes Park and Saltford didn't stack up financially.

As I never actually used Oldfield Park until about 10 years ago (it was simply a station that trains stopped at that I was travelling on before that) I don't know whether any demolitions took place there, but I am sure there is someone on this forum who could tell us about that.

[Red Squirrel]

One thing that crossed my mind, given that Keynsham station buildings were demolished in the 1970s, was perhaps doing the same thing at St Annes Park and Saltford didn't stack up financially.

The point I was making in my earlier reference to The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes is that 'stacking up financially' was not the point; it was all about closing anything you could get away with. Stopping trains on trunk routes, then as now, were considered a nuisance. What better way of getting rid of this nuisance than by closing intermediate stations?

As I never actually used Oldfield Park until about 10 years ago (it was simply a station that trains stopped at that I was travelling on before that) I don't know whether any demolitions took place there, but I am sure there is someone on this forum who could tell us about that.

A quick look on Wikipedia reveals that:

There was originally a full-time station master and ticket office. The 1929 ticket office was constructed of timber on tall wooden piles attached to both the Brook Road bridge and the ground below. It was located at the Moorland Road side of the bridge at road level. This has now been replaced by a portacabin styled ticket office on the westbound platform and a ticket dispensing machine.

[Noggin]

The A4 is horrible most of the time whilst both St Annes and the north side of Sandy Park are a bit out on a limb as regards busses.

I would have thought that a station would be a very useful addition for at least some of the population and make it a more attractive place to live, especially as the property is relatively cheap by Bristol standards

[Red Squirrel]

FoSBR^» (Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways - site) are conducting a survey of people who would use St Annes Park station if it reopened. Would you use it? Would it be your local station if it reopened? If it's not your local station, would you travel there by train to visit friends or maybe walk in Nightingale Valley?

The survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DYZQVRV

Read FoSBR's update on the Restoring your Railway bid here: https://fosbr.org.uk/st-annes-park-station/


^{Image: (c) D G Weekes}

[johnneyw]

Survey completed.  I have some memories of the station when it was still open from early visits Bristol in 1968 by train before the family moved there (again by train) the following year.  My most enduring image is of a darkend station from the carriage at night...perhaps stopping there but that might be a false memory...would any services from Paddington to Temple Meads have stopped there in the late 1960s?

[Bmblbzzz]

St Anne[']s is in the Bristol Post today as an area "popular with young families and millennials" poised to suffer/benefit from "gentrification".

Khiara lives in Fishponds but is looking for a place in St. Anne’s. I asked her how she got to work, to which she replied she walks everyday, which takes her around 45 minutes.

This didn’t come as a surprise as, according to the locals, one of the main pitfalls of the area is its ‘lousy’ public transport.

June says there is only one bus, the 36, which goes from Brislington to the city centre.

Resident Collette - who has lived in the area for 16 years - described public transport in the area as one of her “biggest frustrations.”

She said she was delighted that campaigners including MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post (a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London), depending on context) Kerry McCarthy and Brislington East Councillor Tim Rippington received funding from the government to begin the process of restoring St Anne’s railway station, which hasn’t been in operation for more than 50 years.

“Lots of children go to school in Bath and Keynsham,” she said. "It’d be a huge boom for the area."

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/st-annes-families-millennials-flocking-5546113

[johnneyw]

Bristol Live reports a degree of pessimism expressed by the local St Anne's council representative regarding the now 18 month old bid to reopen the station.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/fears-future-st-annes-train-8506832?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target