Fresh call for new railway station serving Bristol suburb

Fresh calls are being made for a new railway station in a Bristol suburb - with local transport activists saying it is needed to serve the growing community.

There has long been a campaign for a railway station in Lockleaze. But with more than 1,000 homes set to be built in the area over the next five years, plus work underway on Ashley Down station nearby, now is the time to get funding for the project, claims Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways (FoSBR).

The body’s chairman Rob Dixon has written a letter published by Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust asking residents to send a postcard to the Metro Mayor Dan Norris, who is reponsibile for major transport projects, pushing him to commit to the new station.

And it has also been backed by local Green Party councillors David Wilcox and Heather Mack, who said the planned two-platform station could provide 10-minute services to Bristol Temple Meads.

The location being promoted for the station is on Constable Road, next to the disused Dovercourt Road gasometer site which is owned by Bristol City Council. The station would have no car park, like Ashley Down, and would be accessed via Constable Road.

It would be located on the main northern line, not far from the closed Horfield railway station. There are four tracks at the site - which would enable national and regional services to be split.

Earlier this year, the station was listed on a rail network blueprint for 2050 published by a group of leaders under a partnership called the Western Gateway Partnership. The ‘2050 vision to transform rail for South Wales and Western England’ included Lockleaze as an aspirational station.

Speaking to Bristol World at the location of the proposed new station, Councillor Wilcox said: “A railway station in Lockleaze would solve the problem of a growing population with a dwindling transport service. If we can get this over the line it’d hugely benefit people living in this area.”

In the letter from Mr Dixon, a Lockleaze resident, published on Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, he said: “Local people have been calling for this for years. Our local councillors support it. Darren Jones MP described it as “a no brainer”. Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, mentioned it in his election manifesto, and the council confirmed their support for it last autumn. However it doesn’t seem that any action has been taken to get funding for it and actually build it.”

He added: “If there was a station at Lockleaze you could get to Avonmouth, South Bristol, the city centre or Yate faster than by car. People could get to work or visit places quickly, and to get to places by public transport where they can’t at the moment or it’s really difficult.”