Great Western Railway and CrossCountry Trains at Bristol Temple Meads on February 24th 2024

4th visit to Bristol Temple Meads station on the Great Western Main Line,
Featuring services from Great Western Railway and CrossCountry Trains
On the day of filming there was disruption for Cardiff Services due to a landslip between Patchway and Pilning meant Portsmouth Harbour services terminated at Bristol Temple Meads
Penzance services were on Divert between Taunton and Reading via Bristol Temple Meads due to engineering works in the Newbury area
Bristol Temple Meads opened on August 31st 1840 as the western terminus of the original Great Western Railway.
The station name comes from a nearby Temple Church and built on viaduct above the floating harbour as well as nearby River Avon.
Services first commenced to Bath today’s Bath Spa at the time of opening with it extending to London Paddington on June 30th 1841 following the completion of Box Tunnel and 2 weeks after the Bristol and Exeter Railway opened on June 14th although it wasn't until July 8th 1844 when the next railway to open which was the Bristol and Gloucester Railway.
The station itself Grade II Listed was extended twice first between 1871 and 1878 and last was in 1930 and at the time of filming the original span over Platforms 3 and 5 was undergoing restoration.
The former terminal platforms closed in 1965 to enable platform renumbering however like many rail lines some include the Bristol Harbour Railway, Portishead Line were closed between the period from 1964 and 1966 have been axed by Dr Beeching however in recent years some have been considered for reopening as part of the Bristol Metro scheme.
The original shed of the station which has long since closed is nowadays used for venues and other activities.
Today served by Great Western Railway and CrossCountry Trains and was originally served by South Western Railway services from London Waterloo via Salisbury which was axed in December 2021
Great Western Railway Services from London Paddington mostly terminate via Platforms 13 or 15 with a few services extended beyond to Weston-super-Mare or Taunton.
Platform 1 is a bay Platform used mainly by terminating services to and from Avonmouth or Severn Beach although many do continue downwards to Weston-super-Mare
Other GWR services such as to and from Weymouth to Gloucester, Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central and others to Great Malvern, Worcester Foregate Street reverse here requiring turnaround times of between 5 - 10 minutes with the only exception of through services to Taunton originating from Cardiff Central.
Local services are nowadays served by Class 158s, 165s and 166 Turbos having mostly moved from the Thames Valley area on the GWML with the only exceptions on the Marlow, Windsor, Greenford and Henley Branches as well as Basingstoke from Reading.
The former Castle HST sets were withdrawn North of Plymouth in December 2023 although occasionally can cover Cardiff to Penzance services nowadays covered by IETs and occasional Class 158s.
CrossCountry services nowadays served by Class 220 and 221 Voyagers with the former Class 43 HSTs being withdrawn in September 2023 with most services terminating at Plymouth with only one train a day to Penzance mainly from Aberdeen and a few services a day to and from Paignton with some being restored to and from Manchester Piccadilly.
Bristol East Jn was completely remodelled between 2020 and 2021 to enable easier flexibility for trains entering the east side of the station.
Although times may have changed from the day of opening however for the station it still retains the original Great Western Railway with the former Isambard Kingdom Brunel's originality itself.
Music used:
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS
Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds
• JJD - Adventure | Glit...
Filmed on Saturday February 24th 2024 on iPhone 14 Pro and edited on iMovie
#bristol #greatwesternrailway #crosscountrytrains #class800 #class802 #hitachi #class165 #class158 #class221 #class220 #greatwesternmainline #avon

[@TrainTRAMLover37_yt]

Great vid so far!