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.
Location
PlaceKeynsham
Local authorityBath and North East Somerset
Coordinates51.4180°N 2.4954°W / 51.4180; -2.4954
Grid referenceST655689
Operations
Station codeKYN
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.413 million
2015/16 0.424 million
2016/17 0.473 million
2017/18 0.454 million
2018/19 0.512 million
History
Original companyGreat Western Railway
31 August 1840 (1840-08-31)Opened as Keynsham
1 February 1925Renamed Keynsham and Somerdale
6 May 1974Renamed Keynsham
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Keynsham from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

It is managed by Great Western Railway, which also operates most of the trains that call. South Western Railway operate a limited number of services.

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.

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

Passenger services are operated by Great Western Railway.[9] South Western Railway operates 3 services per day Monday - Saturday to and from London Waterloo with only one service on Sundays. These services divide from services towards Yeovil Junction and Exeter at Salisbury.

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 08:08. There is no direct service to London Paddington otherwise.[10] Passengers wishing to travel to London Paddington should change at Bath Spa. 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 43 (HST); Class 150 (Sprinter); Class 158 (Express Sprinter); Class 159; Class 166 (Turbo); Class 800 (Intercity Express Train). 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 Bristol Parkway to Bath Spa, via Bristol West Curve. It does not call at Bristol Temple Meads.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Bristol Temple Meads   South Western Railway
Bristol Temple Meads - London Waterloo		   Oldfield Park or Bath Spa
  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.[11][12] The canopy on Platform 2 was removed between 14 and 18 March 2016.

The following bus services stop just outside the station on Station Road:

All the services are operated by First Bus. First Bus services 39 and 178 stop in the town centre just a short walk away. A local bus service runs from the new Somerdale housing estate (being built on the grounds of the former Cadbury's chocolate factory) to the Chandag Estate in the East of the town. Bath Bus Company service A4 stops outside the church in the town centre providing a half-hourly service to and from Bristol Airport via South Bristol 7 days a week. The A4 also provides a half-hourly service towards Saltford and Bath.

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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 (787). Bradford. 22 March 1849. p. 7.
  7. "Accident on the Great Western Railway". The Times (21332). London. 22 January 1853. col F, p. 3.
  8. "Accident on the Great Western Railway". The Times (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 C1 (15 May - 14 December 2016)" (PDF). Great Western Railway. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  11. "The Week In (issue 407)" (PDF). The Week In. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  12. "Bristol and Bath railway modernisation April 2016". Great Western Railway. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  13. "17" (PDF). First Group. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  14. "18" (PDF). First Group. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
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