Charfield railway station

Charfield
Location
Place	Charfield
Area	South Gloucestershire
Coordinates	51°37′41″N 2°23′59″W / 51.628051°N 2.399764°WCoordinates: 51°37′41″N 2°23′59″W / 51.628051°N 2.399764°W
Grid reference	ST723922
Operations
Original company	Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Platforms	2
History
1844	Opened
1965	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
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Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Legend
Gloucester to Newport Line (SWR) to Newport Gloucester Birmingham & Gloucester Rly (MR) to Birmingham (1854-1965)Haresfield Golden Valley Line (GWR) to Swindon Stonehouse (Bristol Road) (Closed 1965) Stonehouse & Nailsworth Rly (MR) to Nailsworth/Stroud Stroudwater Navigation (Closed 1961)Frocester Cam and Dursley(Opened 1994) (1856-1965)Coaley Junction Dursley & Midland Junction Rly (MR) to Dursley Berkeley Road(Closed 1965) Sharpness Branch Line (MR) to Sharpness (Closed 1965)Charfield Wickwar(Closed 1965) Wickwar tunnel Yate to Thornbury Branch Line (MR) to Thornbury Yate( Closed 1965 Reopened 1989 ) Westerleigh Junction South Wales Main Line (GWR) to London Paddington Coalpit Heath Sidings Ram Hill Colliery Westerleigh Goods Depot Bristol Parkway Mangotsfield & Bath Branch Line (MR) to Bath South Wales Main Line (GWR) to Swansea Mangotsfield(1845-1966) Goods line to Avonmouth docks Staple Hill(1888-1966) Staple Hill Tunnel Filton Abbey Wood Fishponds(1866-1966) Avonside Locomotive Works Clifton Extension Rly (GWR & MR) to Avonmouth Kingswood Junction River Frome Atlas Locomotive Works and collieries Stapleton Road Lawrence Hill Waste Depot Goods Depots ( Terminus 1870-1953 )Bristol St Philips Bristol Harbour River Avon (from Bath) (GWR) Temple Meads Goods Depot Great Western Main Line to London Paddington Bristol Temple Meads Bridge over Victoria Street Tunnel under St Mary Redcliffe churchyard Bristol Harbour Railway St Philips Marsh TMD River Avon (to the sea) Bristol & North Somerset Rly (GWR) Bristol and Exeter Railway (GWR) to Taunton and Exeter

Charfield railway station served the village of Charfield in South Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, originally a broad gauge line overseen by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but later taken over by the Midland Railway and converted to standard gauge.

Charfield station opened with the Bristol and Gloucester line in 1844 and had substantial Brunel designed buildings on both platforms. There were sidings to the north and the south, and those to the north were converted to loops to allow slow trains to be overtaken by faster trains.

In 1928, the Charfield railway disaster occurred when a southbound night-time mail train overran signals into a goods train manoeuvring into these sidings and in the collision the mail train was diverted into the path of a northbound freight train. Gas from the mail train ignited and 15 people died in the blaze. According to some accounts, among them were two children whose identity was never established.^[1]

Passenger services were withdrawn from Charfield in January 1965 with the removal of stopping services on the Bristol to Gloucester line. Goods services were withdrawn in the September of the same year. The main station building and the station master's house remain in residential use.^[2]

Services between Bristol and Birmingham pass through Charfield. There have been discussions about the viability of re-opening the station. The costs of re-opening would be shared between Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire Councils since, although the station would be in South Gloucestershire, the nearby town of Wotton-under-Edge would be a principal beneficiary.

Services

Railway view in 1987

References

1. "Mystery of train death children". BBC News Online. 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
2. Mike Oakley (2003). Gloucestershire Railway Stations. Wimborne: Dovecote Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 1-904349-24-2.