Welcome to Pilning Station: The railway station with no return service

There can’t be many stations where passengers face such a challenge making a return journey.

Departing Pilning Railway Station is easy.

There is a choice of two services, albeit both on a Saturday - the 8.33am and the 3.32pm toward Bristol.

The problem is, there is no service coming back from the city which stops at the South Gloucestershire village.

Passengers have to come back on a separate service which passes through the Severn Tunnel, before returning from the Welsh side of the river on the only remaining train stopping at Pilning, arriving just after 3.30pm.

It is a strange situation, and one which makes members of Pilning Station Group ‘very proud’ of recent figures which show 210 passengers used the station in 2020/21.

The number, which equates to around four passengers a week, means it is also the UK’s 91st least-used station.

But group chairman Olga Taylor said: “Pilning Station Group is very proud of this result.

“This is a very respectful figure under the circumstances and shows the value of the station enabling people to get out when the lockdown ended.”

The station’s performance is even better when you consider the station was the 41st least-used station in 2019/20, and the third least-used in 2015/16.

Since that lowly year, when the station was used by just 46 passengers, a footbridge to the now-abundant west-facing platform was removed in 2016.

The move outraged villagers who even created a video on the removal as part of a campaign to get a new one installed.

Ms Taylor said; “We are still very sad that the footbridge was removed, and we still believe that this was step towards trying to close the station.

“However, our recent correspondence with Network Rail proved that there were no current plans to close the station.”

Despite the lack of footbridge and stopping services, the group has had success.

Last year, train operator Great Western Railway allowed people returning to Pilning from Bristol to travel for free to Wales in order to get back.

And in May, GWR changed the time of its afternoon train stopping at the station from 2.33pm to 3.32pm so people had more time out on excursions.

Any later, however, is not possible as there is not sufficient lighting on the platform.

Work continues by members of Pilning Station Group to encourage GWR to introduce more stopping trains.

Members monitor usage and speak to passengers as part of their case for more services and the return of a footbridge so both platforms can be used.

Ms Taylor said: “We noted last year that there was an increase in use by local families and groups of friends who wanted to have a day out in a big city - Cardiff, Bristol, Bath are all within an easy reach from Pilning station - but not use their cars.

“The feedback that we had was that it would have been even better if there was another earlier or a later train, as well as two or three services on Sundays.”

The station is accessed via a single-lane track and serves Pilning - population 3,500 - and surrounding villages such as Easter Compton.

It is also close to inland surf attraction, The Wave.

The station is also visited by rail enthusiasts willing to take the challenge of visiting one of the country’s quietest stations, while sometimes also enjoying walks and pubs nearby.

“We won’t stop, we’ll keep calling for more services,” said Ms Taylor.

“Improving and providing more services at Pilning station would improve public transport access to the area, reduce car dependency and congestion, enable further housing and commercial development and be good value for money.”

In contrast to Pilning, Bristol Temple Meads was the busiest station in the region with 2million passengers last year - down from 11.6 million the previous year.

Bristol Parkway saw 662,000 passengers last year.

The quietest station in Bristol was St Andrews, with 4,910 passengers last year, down from 5,730 the year before.

Andy Bagnall, director-general at industry body the Rail Delivery Group, said “Rail companies are working together to welcome people back and the recent increase in passengers continues to both reflect and support the nation’s recovery.”