BRISTOL TEMPLE MEADS is probably the largest station in the West of England - a
provincial capital of railways, and not vastly different from its heyday. Its protective overall roof stretches from the
entrance
across to platform 7/8, with canopies providing cover elsewhere.
Unlike stations in the Midlands, which label long platforms as (e.g.) 5a and 5b, this station gives new numbers to the same
platform faces, odd numbers to the north end of the station, even numbers to the south (but there is no platform 14, only 13
and 15).
The platforms are linked by a modern or modernised mall-like underpass with several commercial stalls, and there are steps
and lifts to all platforms. Three of the four platform islands have waiting rooms, and there are snacking facilities on two
of them. The exit is from platform 1 through an automatic ticket barrier, but with a staffed gate for incompatible tickets,
wheels and heavily luggaged passengers. On the other side is a large ticket office. The access road outside will get you to
Temple Gate, the north east corner of the city centre, in a five minute walk. There is parking near the booking office, but
it wasn't clear whether this was for travellers or railway staff only, so you'd need to enquire. Temple Meads doesn't have
the gloss of some of the modernised London termini such as Liverpool Street, but it can keep you warm, dry and fed whilst
waiting for your train. Finally, note that Temple Meads lies in an interesting network of lines. If you're travelling south-west, you'll be heading off the left side of the sketch. Otherwise just pay close attention to train announcements. Wheels: BE.
 Click here for Birmingham to Bristol Temple Meads
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| BEDMINSTER station is signed for pedestrians but not for motorists, but with common sense (and sight of the embankment the line runs along) it's possible to find it anyway. The entrance is a bare yard with parking for a dozen or so cars, advertised by a station sign and sizeable mural of a red steam locomotive and coaches [a revolt against Great Western green perhaps?!]. There is more decoration through the underpass that links the two platforms, all carried out by a local civic group and definitely lifting it from the dull greyness one |  |
might have expected. That runs out when the stepless ramps get you to platform level, where only one stylish but very airy (read draughty) bus shelter decorates each of the two island platforms. There are 4 tracks, though one of these is rarely used. Be aware that platforms 2 and 3 are used bi-directionally. The station is unstaffed. Wheels: BE.
The two island platforms are identical, except that the unnumbered track is being steadily absorbed by greenery. Each has a ramp (seen at left in the |
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photo), a shelter, and a perchbar seat on the platform. The timetable is back by the car park entrance - a nuisance with no video train announcing.
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PARSON STREET
Parson Street station has no parking, and is sited on what is now a triangular traffic gyratory system (with a contraflow for cyclists along the station roadside), so even pick-up and set-down is awkward. If there was a ticket office, it has disappeared in favour of a somewhat woebegone shelter on the bridge, and the station is unstaffed. Access to each platform is by a now roofless staircase from road level, with no alternatives for wheeled users. The platforms are two islands, each with a boxy shelter. One of the outer tracks has been removed and the other one is normally used for freight traffic, leaving the two inner ones for local services. We don't believe there is train announcing but would welcome correction. Wheels: BE.
Photo: passengers board a Weston-Super-Mare-bound Class 143 railbus on a Saturday in April 2007.
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| NAILSEA & BACKWELL Despite the accent on Nailsea, the station is just inside the boundary of its neighbour Backwell on the unnumbered road (Station Road) that links them, and less than a mile from the A370. It stands on a high embankment that effectively |
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divides the two communities from any sight of each other (and also impedes road traffic under it) but obviously functions well as a commuter station and has a 100-space car park to support it. Unfortunately, it isn't wheel-user friendly, with only steps to get you to the platforms. The Bristol platform has three shelters (two mated together with a tiny hatch to allow ticket sales to morning commuters), the other side has one with perch seating for about 7 people. Wheels: BE.
Photo: A northbound train getting ready to leave |
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after loading passengers. The ticket office is in the middle of the two joined shelters. To the left is the sheeted ticket machine, not yet in service (April 2007), and in the background the passenger overbridge. Video train information and announcing is beyond the shelters, but not visible here.
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| YATTON is a very attractive example of Great Western station style, and a marked contrast to the prevalent bus shelter provision elsewhere. Yatton was a busy station for most of a century, serving branch lines (now closed) in addition to the main line it sits on. It remains busy enough to have a ticket office (with a ticket machine on the opposite platform), train announcements and video |
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| display and there is even a small garden on the Exeter side by the footbridge. The station can be approached from either side of the road bridge just to the north of the station, and each side has pay and display car parking (£1/day in 2007). For wheelchair users, this is the only way across the line, so the wheels rating recognises the need to go round to collect a car from the opposite side of the line. Wheels: BE.
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The photo shows Yatton from the south, with the large passenger canopy on the left. Exeter-bound passengers presumably need less shelter. The parking on both sides of the station can just be seen. The heading photo on this page shows another view of Yatton.
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WORLE Worle lies just north of the junction for the loop out to Weston-Super-Mare. It has two platforms with round-topped bus shelters and a similar shelter used as a cycle rack down at the same level as the substantial car park. By the approach ramp there is a portacabin-style unit which may serve as a ticket cabin in the peak period (it was sealed up when we visited) and at the top of the same ramp is a ticket machine for 24-hour sales. A ramped wheelchair-friendly overbridge links the two platforms. Wheels: BE.
Worle early one Saturday morning in April 2008, viewed from the car park. At left is one of the shelters, this one with a ticket machine facing passengers on the approach ramp. At the bottom by the notice board may be a peak-time ticket cabin, and the hatched area is disabled parking. Beyond the cars at right is the sheltered cycle rack, and the ramped overbridge dominates the whole scene.
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Weston-Super-Mare Loop Line
 WESTON MILTON Weston Milton is on the loop line from Worle that continues through Weston-Super-Mare before rejoining the Exeter line. It was single-tracked circa 1973 so the one platform serves all trains. However, the revival of rail use has led to a proposal to dual track the line again, and a second platform may be built if and when that happens. The station is in Saville Road, accessed off the south side of the B3440, a few yards past the traffic light junction when heading towards Weston-Super-Mare. There is a finger sign for it on the opposite side of the main road. Don't turn at the traffic lights - the road is one-way over a bridge and you'll be forced into a detour to the next bridge back. The station itself is very sparse and although there is a ramp to the platform, the bunker-like shelter is slightly detached and has a step down that bars wheelchair users from reaching it. The car park has 30+ standard and 2 disabled spaces. Wheels: BE.
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 WESTON-SUPER-MARE Weston-Super-Mare station sits on a level site and is still served by attractive traditional main buildings and an unusual overbridge which has been made more accessible by additional external staircases (at some cost to the original design). There are two main platforms plus a short bay on the south side. Both platforms have long traditional canopies as there is presumably still a holidaymaker traffic to cater for. The main station building includes a ticket office, bar, and other facilities. Both platforms are bi-directional - i.e. trains arrive and leave in either direction. There is pay-and-display parking in the forecourt plus a few short-stay bays, and there are also buses around. We noted parking on the other side of the line but it was empty, we don't know for certain that it's for rail users, and we didn't determine its access. It could be that both sides are readily accessible, but with no lifts to the overbridge, some passengers will face a walk round the station to get back to their car after a trip. The wheels value reflects this, but fully able passengers will have no problems. Wheels: BE.
Looking south through the station. The back car park is off to the left. You can see additional steps driven up into the original building a long time ago, then you have the long, sharply curving platforms with their canopies. The main station buildings are on the right, and the short bay platform is just off the right edge of the picture.
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HIGHBRIDGE & BURNHAM station lies at the south-east corner of the town at the end of Market Street, with a turn-off just before the road bridge that passes over the line north of the station platforms. The approach road is tear-drop shaped to create a built-in turnround, and there are parking spaces on the approach side for about 18 vehicles plus two disabled spaces very close to the northbound platform entrance. This platform has two bus shelters and a ticket machine (not yet in use). A stepped passenger bridge is the link between this side and the southbound side, and there is no footboard crossing. However, there is a stepless, smooth footpath that passes round what look like flats to join the road bridge on that side of the line. Signing is adequate and the station is easily found. Train information seems to be purely notice-based. Wheels: BE.
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BRIDGWATER station is east of the town centre - the A372 (St. John Street) passes just south of it and gives a fork onto Wellington Road. The station catches your eye right away - white stone and white paint. It looks very clean. The Bristol side has a staffed ticket office from early morning until after lunch (and a ticket machine - not yet in service - out on the platform), and video train information is supported by  broadcast announcements. There is considerable canopy cover on both platforms, enhanced by side screens to deflect wind. The Bristol side has a waiting room, but there is surprisingly little seating on the Exeter side, which can only be reached by a covered stepped overbridge. The station car park has 30 spaces with 4 allocated to disabled users. Wheels: BE.
The photo looks north through the station.
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TAUNTON station's 19th century entrance, just off Station Road, faces south towards the town centre - but these days the main entrance is on the north side in a modern add-on that has a booking hall and a flat link to the underpass with lifts and stairs to the platforms. The platform above the booking hall (platform 5, with platform 6 as a bay at the western end) has the main passenger facilities and a long canopy. The middle platform was taken out of use some years ago and stripped of its canopy and other features, but the resurgence of rail use has brought it back into service. It still has no canopy, but a large modern waiting room/shelter has been erected, and a lift to this platform was being installed when we visited (April 2007). The original entrance on platforms 1-2 can still be accessed from the road or the adjacent pay and display parking. It still has a full canopy and also has a fully sheltered bus-link waiting area. This is a major station and should be able to supply most passenger needs. Wheels: BE.
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TIVERTON PARKWAY station belies its name: it's several miles east of Tiverton, tucked in beside the A361's meeting with M5 at junction 27 - itself just east of Sampford Peverell. It's a modern (1986) replacement for the former Sampford Peverell station; it is staffed all day, has stepless access and parking for 175 cars. [Not yet visited] Wheels: BE.
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EXETER ST. DAVIDS station is towards the north west corner of the city, just on the east side of the river Exe, and accessed by Isambard Parade, off Bonhay Road (A377). Note that there is also an Exeter St. Thomas station, so take care not to confuse them. This is a major station with 5 through lines - all of them bi-directional - and either way out of the station can take you north. Passenger facilities on platforms 5 & 6 were upgraded in early 2007, and new lifts have been added. Immediately south of St Davids, the line divides - one track swinging east to Exeter Central and the Southern route back to London, the other continuing south to Exeter St. Thomas, then on towards Cornwall. [Not yet visited] Wheels: BE.
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Please note: the notes and sketches are intended only to give a general impression, and should not be relied upon for more than that. Dudley Mall accepts no liability for errors, but will correct any significant ones notified to us through dudleymall@dudleymall.co.uk or by post to Dudley Mall, 62 Gervase Drive, Dudley, West Midlands DY1 4AT.
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