Keynsham railway station

Keynsham railway station is on the Great Western Main Line in South West England, serving the town of Keynsham, Somerset. It is 113 miles 63 chains (183.1 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Oldfield Park and Bristol Temple Meads stations.

Keynsham
Looking towards Bath from the station footbridge in September 2016.
General information
Location	Keynsham, Bath and North East Somerset England
Coordinates	51.4180°N 2.4954°W / 51.4180; -2.4954
Grid reference	ST655689
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	KYN
Classification	DfT category F1
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Key dates
31 August 1840 (1840-08-31)	Opened as Keynsham
1 February 1925	Renamed Keynsham and Somerdale
6 May 1974	Renamed Keynsham
Passengers
2019/20	0.511 million
2020/21	87,304
2021/22	0.298 million
2022/23	0.419 million
2023/24	0.511 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

v t e Railways in the Bristol area
Legend
Cross Country Route Thornbury branch line Yate South Wales Main Line New Passage Pier Westerleigh Junction New Passage Halt Cross Hands Halt South Wales Main Line via Severn Tunnel Pilning Severn Beach Coalpit Heath Severn View Industrial Park Winterbourne Chittening Industrial Estate Bristol Parkway Patchway Smoke Lane Industrial Estate Ram Hill Colliery Chittening Platform Hallen Halt Avonmouth Docks Henbury St Andrews Road Charlton Halt Avonmouth (BPR&P) North Filton Platform Avonmouth (Royal Edward) Stoke Gifford depot Avonmouth Docks Westerleigh Goods Depot Avonmouth Avonmouth Light Railway Filton Junction Avonmouth Docks Filton Portway Park & Ride Filton Abbey Wood Shirehampton Horfield Ashley Down Sea Mills Ashley Hill Clifton Down Tunnel Mangotsfield (1845–1869) Clifton Down Mangotsfield (1869–1966) Redland Staple Hill Montpelier Fishponds Hotwells Halt Warmley Hotwells Narroways Hill Junction Stapleton Road sidings Grey line represents Stapleton Road boundary of Bristol Oldland Common unitary authority area Avon Valley Railway Lawrence Hill Waste depot Bitton Bristol St Philip's Barton Hill Depot St Mary Redcliffe tunnel Avon Riverside Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads Princes' Wharf Kelston Bristol Harbour Railway St Philip's Marsh T&RSMD SS Great Britain East Depot Bristol Docks (North) Bedminster Bristol Docks (South) Parson Street CREATE Centre Mangotsfield to Bath line South Liberty Lane Depot Ashton Gate St Anne's Park Clifton Bridge Brislington Nightingale Valley Halt Long Ashton Ham Green Halt Bristol–Exeter line Pill Whitchurch Halt Portbury shipyard Keynsham Royal Portbury Dock Bristol & North Somerset Rly Portbury Shipyard Saltford Portbury Great Western Main Line (1954–1964) Portishead Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway (1879–1954) Portishead Portishead Pier

It is managed by Great Western Railway, which also operates all of the trains that call.

History

The station was opened on 31 August 1840 with the completion of the Great Western Railway line between Bristol and Bath. It was renamed Keynsham and Somerdale on 1 February 1925 with the opening of the Fry's chocolate factory at Somerdale, which had its own siding.^[1] The station was rebuilt in 1931 to accommodate longer trains bringing in workers who had transferred from a factory in Bristol belonging to the company.^[2]

Between 1841 and 1851 it had the possibly unique distinction, for a railway station, of featuring a Roman Orpheus mosaic set into a floor. This had been found at Newton St Loe, and is now in Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.^[3]

Keynsham is the nearest station to the village of Saltford, which until 1970 had its own station.

The station's name reverted to Keynsham on 6 May 1974. By this time many workers had relocated to Keynsham, or commuted by car. The factory had its own rail system which was connected to the mainline. The connection to Fry's chocolate factory was taken out of use on 26–27 July 1980.^[4] The trackbed of this can still be seen opposite the entrance to the station car park, which is now a public walking route into the housing estate on what was the Somerdale sports fields.

The station was rebuilt in 1985 as a joint project between British Rail and Avon County Council. The rebuilding provided a new brick built shelter on platform 2, a new footbridge and the enlargement of the car park. Further construction work began in mid-2009. In 2011 a campaign group was formed to gain improved access for the disabled at the station.^[5] Recently a new disabled access ramp was built which provides wheelchair access between the footbridge and Platform 1. In addition to this, dot matrix display boards have been put up on both platforms. These displays are accompanied by audio announcements.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
St Anne's Park		Great Western Railway Great Western Main Line		Saltford

Accidents and incidents

• On 18 March 1849, a passenger train became divided approaching Keynsham. The rear portion then ran into the front portion when the latter stopped at the station. One person was injured.^[6]
• On 20 January 1853 a luggage train was derailed near Keynsham due to an axle failure on one of the carriages.^[7]
• On 7 June 1865, a passenger train ran into the rear of another near Keynsham. An empty stock train ran into the wreckage. At least three people were injured.^[8]

Services

A Class 158 at Keynsham

Passenger services are operated by Great Western Railway.^[9]

Keynsham Station has at least an hourly service in each direction between Monday and Saturday, with roughly a 2 hourly service on Sunday. Direct destinations include: Brighton; Southampton Central; Weymouth; Cardiff; Bath Spa; Gloucester; and Bristol Temple Meads. The majority of its services are a combination of 2 hourly Weymouth trains and 2 hourly Southampton trains eastbound and an hourly service to Bristol and Gloucester in the other direction. On summer Saturdays an extra train is run between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth formed of either a Sprinter or a Class 166 Turbo, calling at Keynsham at 09:14, this train does not call at Freshford, Avoncliff, Bruton, Thornford, Yetminster, Chetnole or Upwey. There is one direct service from London Paddington on Monday to Friday that calls at Keynsham at 08:06. A return service to London was introduced in summer 2020, calling at Keynsham at 17:36.^[10] Passengers wishing to travel to London Paddington during the off peak hours should change at Bath Spa or Bristol Temple Meads. The typical journey times are approximately 7 minutes to Bristol and 10 minutes to Bath.

It is common to see a range of different train classes. These include Class 150s, Class 158s, Class 165s, Class 166s and Class 800s. Keynsham also used to be a stop on West Coast Railways' Weymouth Seaside Express on Summer Sundays from July to September, although this train has not run since the railway upgrade works east of Bath in August 2015.

Keynsham is also a stop on a Parliamentary train that runs on weekdays from Filton Abbey Wood to Bath Spa, via Bristol West Curve. It does not call at Bristol Temple Meads.

Until the December 2021 timetable change, Keynsham was a stop on South Western Railway's London Waterloo to Bristol services.^[11] These trains detached from the rear of Waterloo to Exeter services at Salisbury.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Bristol Temple Meads		Great Western Railway Great Malvern/Gloucester - Westbury/South Coast		Oldfield Park

Electrification

As part of the electrification of the Great Western Main Line, the line through Keynsham closed for 1 week in April 2016 so that Network Rail could carry out preparation work for the installation of the overhead wires. This involved the lowering of the track under the road bridge and the replacement of the canopy on platform 1. Also the brick shelter on the Bath (up) platform was enlarged.^[12][13] The canopy on Platform 2 was removed between 14 and 18 March 2016.

Bus links

The following bus service stops just outside the station on Station Road:

• 17 Keynsham to Bristol city centre via Hanham and Southmead Hospital^[14]

This service is operated by First West of England.

References

1. Leitch, Russell (1997). Railways of Keynsham: Featuring Fry's Chocolate Passenger and Freight Operations. The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. ISBN 978-0901115829.
2. "Keynsham & Somerdale Railway Station in 1932". Time Capsules. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
3. "Roman Orpheus mosaic to be displayed at Bristol museum" Archived 30 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, 2013
4. "Keynsham". Bristol Rail. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
5. "9 Nov 2011 : Column 386". Hansard. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
6. "Extraordinary Railway Accident". The Bradford Observer. No. 787. Bradford. 22 March 1849. p. 7.
7. "Accident on the Great Western Railway". The Times. No. 21332. London. 22 January 1853. col F, p. 3.
8. "Accident on the Great Western Railway". The Times. No. 25206. London. 8 June 1865. col C, p. 11.
9. "Keynsham". Great Western Railway. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
10. "Timetable BL (13 December 2020 - 15 May 2021)" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
11. "SWR Salisbury to Bristol services withdrawn". Salisbury Journal. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
12. "The Week In (issue 407)" (PDF). The Week In. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
13. "Bristol and Bath railway modernisation April 2016". Great Western Railway. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
14. "17" (PDF). First Group. Retrieved 8 January 2020.

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