Weston Milton railway station

Weston Milton railway station serves the Milton and Locking Castle areas of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. It is situated on a loop off the Bristol to Taunton Line, 136 miles 12 chains (219.1 km) from London Paddington via Bristol Temple Meads.

Weston Milton
Location
PlaceWeston-super-Mare
Local authorityNorth Somerset
Coordinates51.348°N 2.9433°W / 51.348; -2.9433
Grid referenceST344614
Operations
Station codeWNM
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Number of platforms1
DfT categoryF2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 64,494
2015/16 65,450
2016/17 68,594
2017/18 71,900
2018/19 82,722
History
Original companyGreat Western Railway
1933Opened
1972Reduced to one platform
1983Refurbished
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Weston Milton from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station was opened as "Weston Milton Halt" on 3 July 1933[1] to serve the expansion of the Milton area to the east of the town centre. The name "halt" indicated that it was an unstaffed station but with platforms of sufficient length to accommodate full-sized trains. Access to the two platforms, which were built of pre-cast concrete sections, was from the Locking Moor Road at the east end of the station.[2]

When the line was singled between Worle Junction and Weston-super-Mare on 31 January 1972 it was the northern or "up" line that was retained. After a while the line was relaid in the centre of the formation. To do this the new track was initially laid on the abandoned down formation and trains called for a short while at the old down platform while the up line was lifted and the up platform moved to be partly in its place. The new line was then slewed over to run alongside the platform after which the down platform was dismantled.

In 1983, £30,000 was spent to provide a new waiting shelter and refurbish the car park. The entrance was moved from the bridge to be nearer the middle of the platform. With the opening of Worle railway station on 24 September 1990 a number of commuters changed to using that station, but improved daytime services and the new Locking Castle housing development have mitigated this loss of passengers.

Description

The station is located in Saville Road and consists of just one small platform (on the left hand side of the train when travelling towards Bristol).[3]

Services

All trains are operated by Great Western Railway. The basic pattern of services is for an hourly train between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol Parkway which calls at all stations.[4] There are a few commuter services which run instead to Cardiff Central or to Bath Spa and then on to London Paddington. These London services are operated by Class 800s which are too long for the platform, so only the front coaches are stopped alongside the platform.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Worle   Great Western Railway
Bristol to Taunton Line		   Weston-super-Mare

Future developments

The Network Rail Business Plan for 2007 proposed that the line should be doubled from Worle Junction as far as the east side of the station in 2008, with a further phase later extending the double track through the station as far as Weston-super-Mare.[5] In the following year's Business Plan Update it was noted as being "subject to a positive business case".[6]

The Weston Package Phase 1 strategic planning guidance suggests that the station 'could' be relocated underneath a proposed new bridge that would link Herluin Way and Locking Road. A new station could have longer platforms that can take larger trains which will be an important aspect of unlocking employment opportunities in the redevelopment of the former Weston Airfield.[7]

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References
  1. "Weston super Mare". VisitorUK. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  2. Oakley, Mike (2002). Somerset Railway Stations. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-904349-09-9.
  3. Cooke, RA (1979). Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR, Section 16: West Somerset. Harwell: RA Cooke.
  4. Table 134 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  5. "Network Rail Business Plan 2007: Route 13" (PDF). Network Rail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
  6. Route 13, Great Western Main Line (PDF). Route Plans 2008. London: Network Rail. April 2008. p. 9. CDS001/April 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  7. "Weston Package Phase 1: Appendix 2.1" (PDF). West of England Partnership. Retrieved 30 September 2012. (pages 53–54)


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