Pilning - Least Used Station in Gloucestershire

[@YouTube]

justice for pilning station 😌

[@xander1052]

Hello there.

[@92xsaabaru-]

​@@xander1052General Kenobi!!!!

[@therealmasonicbwe]

Well this is a first!

[@ZariDim3012]

Wait what????

[@RRStuff]

This comment needs to be pinned

[@edfielden]

Well that was fun, wasn't it? A pleasure to show you the sights of Pilning, Geoff! You're assured of a warm welcome back to Gloucestershire any time. #Footbridge4Pilning 😁

[@stepheneyles2198]

Nice to see ex BBC and ex ITV guys working together!! Hands up who remembers HTV from their young days!

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

Now I might be old but I still remember it being TWW. Television Wales &West.

[@jameshodgson1609]

Who could forget Bruce Hockin such a good presenter

[@colourist.]

Ex BBC boy here … Working with ‘the other side’? Heresy 😂

[@neville132bbk]

From faraway early Spring NZ,,,, I would guess,, it means Harlech Television....I remember...... I still want --impossibly--to see Shippea Hill Central..failing that... my next favouritest has to be Crystal Palace stn.... there's something about it.. PS... I have just hitchhiked out of idle electronic curiosity to the Pilning station campaign site.... is it still functioning? as the latest entry seems to be 11 months old.....

[@kevinfitzpatrick444]

"Push for Helpy the Helpful Help Point" A lovely touch whoever put that there.

[@therealmasonicbwe]

I had a feeling to go watch the least used stations series again today. What a coincidence this is today's video!

[@andrewjohnson4528]

Well that video made me feel old. As a kid we used to use the car on train service using Pilning to go on our holidays each year in Cornwall traveling from south wales before the original Severn Bridge was built. It saved having to drive up to Gloucester to cross the River. Oh how I loved that part of the journey. Thanks for rekindling happy memories

[@Eric_Hunt194]

Quite impressed with how much greenery has appeared on the disused platform in just eight years!

[@southcalder]

I lived in nearby Bradley Stoke for a few years, and used to enjoy sitting at Pilning for a few hours watching the world go by. Was a great place to see the original Valenta HSTs at full power on the climb to Patchway. Years later, I started working for Network Rail and found myself at Pilning in a professional capacity, and it was a huge change. Electrification hadn’t happened, but most of the services had been withdrawn already. The footbridge was a great place to get shots of the tunnel entrance with a good zoom lens.

[@DekuTransportsHP14]

This series not gonna end . This is the best series ever

[@saintyboy73]

Hi Geoff , pleasure to stop and pick you up :)

[@geofftech2]

Ha haaa! Hello sir 👋 😀

[@pilningstation8155]

Thank you for visiting. Hope to see you again soon! 🚂🚃🚃🚃

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

Good to see you here.

[@newtonferrers1]

A* for trainpal Geoff. Ive been using trainline for years and paid £92 for a return from Plymouth to Southampton (with a railcard) just used trainpal and that's now £48. Even with trainlines £10 cancellation fee that's still a £34 saving. Thank you thank you!!!

[@koputai]

Ah, another classic Geoff video, makes one all kind of warm and fuzzy doesn’t it!

[@keithbrowning3899]

We lived in Cardiff and between 1959-63 and my father used the car link from Severn Tunnel Junction many times for work and always for holidays to Cornwall. The passengers travelled in a single coach and were deposited on platform 1. On return we had to wait on PLATFORM 2 while the cars were loaded, but had to stand back as the express trains from London were at full speed heading into the tunnel. These were all steam trains, Castles and Kings and is a memory that survives until today.

[@mangoeshello]

Met Geoff in Bristol Temple Meads earlier this month. It was great to meet you within all the delays and cancellation chaos that day!

[@geofftech2]

It was a mad day! It took me a looong time to get back to London. Nice to meet you too! 😅

[@TheBritFromOz008]

The amount of times I’ve driven through Pilning on Train Simulator (Bristol TM/ Parkway - Cardiff comes standard with the game). I stop every time regardless of direction; nobody ever gets on or off though. Pilning has no footbridge in the game but it doesn’t have the overhead electric lines either.

[@MrGreatplum]

Fantastic stuff, Geoff - I wish they could give that station a proper service! Ed was a great guest too!

[@oryxland3994]

With only two trains on a Saturday and both running in the same direction making a return trip impossible it's pretty much fated to only get worse from here on out unfortunately. I feel like stations like this are destined to eventually lose all service and practically useless service levels like this only exists so the rail line can claim they haven't closed the station yet.

[@LynneFarr]

With Geoff and Ed, who needs AI? Fun video!

[@stephenpegum9776]

Until I was 9 I lived in Patchway which is the next station along from Pilning - small world ! I'm not saying how long ago it was but I csn still remember a trip from my junior school to visit the signal box on Patchway station. Happy days ! 😎

[@ianmcclavin]

They removed footbridges at Polesworth and Briech in Scotland (on the Shotts line) also. Breech was for electrification purposes also , but that built earthwork banks up to the nearby main road to maintain acces to both platforms. Polesworth was not so fortunate, resulting in a similar situation to Pilning.

[@mittfh]

Polesworth featured in a Least Used Station video five years ago... kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJvVdIWvmcppd8Usi=9GCQ3ntK3leP_H2W

[@thomasthornton2002]

I visited before Christmas 2019 and there was a small Christmas tree set up in the waiting room :) the best way to visit by public transport is to take the train to Severn beach and then there’s a bus which drops you about 15 minutes walk up the road

[@simonhorn1745]

Ed is right up their with Roger for special guests! Great vid Geoff. Need that Pilning t shirt!

[@train-insane-trainspotting]

Until just a few monts ago, me (a young teenage trainspotter) and my grandad (experienced trainspotter from the 60’s) went here because it commonly had high amounts of freights during the mid-day and convoys aswell. This was a really great place and it is where some of my best train videos come from. Even thought we only stopped a few months ago (because we realised that Severn Tunnel Junction had slightly more freights) this video seems really nostalgic and everything from the help point to the waiting room and even the entrance gate was incredibly nice to see again. Great memories from here and i’m glad you made a video of it Geoff!

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

Thanks for coming back again Geoff,every. Little helps good to see Ed again.

[@IBLRG]

Pilning ❤ sending love from The Independent Brigg Line Rail Group

[@Bristoltwingo]

I used this station to travel to Manchester changing at Newport many years ago when there was one train a day in each direction.

[@railotaku]

It probably doesn't help Pilning that Severn Beach station is not much further away from Pilning village than Pilning station is, and Severn Beach has an hourly service into Bristol (albeit by a different route) (Edit having measured, Severn Beach is /Slightly/ closer at 1.7km vs 1.9km - measured from the centre of the village)

[@peter_smyth]

Pilning station can also serve Easter Compton, although from there it may be faster to go up to Cribbs Causeway and catch a bus into Bristol or to Bristol Parkway Station than to get a train from Pilning or Severn Beach.

[@satyris410]

Somebody mentioned in the comments on a BFI film for "Operation London Bridge (1975)" that Geoff Marshall is in fact the new reincarnation of British Transport Films

[@phronsiekeys]

Well, Ed and his research certainly put ChatGPT to shame!

[@dianekivi5349]

The full name of the station is Pilling High Level. There was a Pilling Low Level station too, it was on the link line from Severn Beach to the main line, just short of the junction!

[@PamelaBane]

Thanks Geoff and Ed for a very informative and enjoyable video

[@willpywj]

Hi Geoff im that person you met at Pilning it was great to meet you 🤩

[@willpywj]

can i put it on insta now? 😉

[@Seagull81006]

Just to add on to that pedantry corner bit, for those who want to know the least used station in Modern Gloucestershire, that honour goes to Ashchurch for Tewkesbury at 68,810 passengers

[@bdh_555]

I knew it wasn’t very popular - didn’t expect it to be least used! Glad to have added a couple of journeys in the figure 😅

[@Seagull81006]

@@bdh_555 same, ive added at least 5-6 to that figure, though when going to somewhere that aint Bristol or the daily south Wales train, i find Cheltenham better to get a train from.

[@vinniesuperstar8923]

Is Gloucestershire the county with the least number of stations? There are 8 in total and nine in Exeter alone!

[@acfbrown1]

​@@vinniesuperstar8923 I think Northamptonshire which has only six is (if you exclude Rutland).

[@stephenholt4670]

Pilning is actually very much still in "Modern Gloucestershire", it's just the county is regarded as a ceremonial county these days comprised partly of the two-tier Gloucestershire county council area and the unitary South Gloucestershire. Many counties such as Berkshire and Cheshire don't have a single county council at all these days, so really ceremonial counties are the only game in town.

[@vinniesuperstar8923]

I was at Pilning one time when an HST broke down and had to detrain it's passengers and send them back to Bristol Parkway. Every Wales bound train in the meantime had to use the avoiding line behind platform 2.

[@jimparlett4099]

If you pull up Pilning on Google street view and follow the road up to the station, you can see the extremely ugly and over-engineered OLE electrification poles, girders and wires . . . until the very last shot, where street view gets to the end and won't let you go any further, and there in all it's glory is the now-demolished Pilning footbridge!

[@jimhankinson4428]

I used to drive in Mexico a lot. You would often see signs that simply read 'No maltrate las senales' (don't mistreat the signs) - inevitably most of them were vandalized. Thanks for another fine video Geoff.

[@grassytramtracks]

What do they even mean by that?

[@matthewfazio8476]

I seriously enjoy these videos Geoff, can't wait for future least used videos!!

[@limeyfox]

The reason for the 1532 / 1558 confusion is because the 1500 Cardiff-Penzance is now worked by a Class 800 which are not currently permitted to stop at Pilning (software reasons - Hitachi!) and therefore the 1528 Cardiff-Portsmouth is currently standing in. The posters clearly haven’t been updated!

[@geofftech2]

We wondered this! after hearing that a Class 800 DID make a stop, and then .. never again! i wonder what the issue was [ is? ]

[@damianharris2167]

Truth be told, there probably isn’t any kind of problem. “A software issue” seems to be a common excuse pumped out by a multitude of companies these days to get them out of doing things that they don’t want to do. I had the same experience with my energy supplier and my smart meter. If they say it’s “a software issue” most people quietly accept that it’s unfixable and don’t pursue it.

[@cragoolia3782]

@@geofftech2 The train stopped, waited 2 minutes and then the doors were released for the front 4 coaches only. After contacting GWR at the time, they were using a Safe Working System (essentially the driver phoned the guard who confirmed the front 4 were on and the driver manually selected and opened the doors it sounds like)

[@Busenthusiast43]

⁠Guess what GWR Greenford branch line is getting new class 230 and replacing the class 165 due to 2024 and the class 230 will have 3 coaches not 2 with them being shorter the length will be the same

[@maplady572]

Fab. And the rail ramp....wonderful piece of history! ❤

[@FurbleFawks]

10+ points to the creative version of Imagine - Fun video as always, Geoff!

[@Kimberley42]

Fantastic! I've been looking forward to the Pilning video and great to see Ed too.

[@prime1971]

Pilning also used to have the mainland side of the Severn Tunnel Emergency train, but sadly thats been replaced by road rail vehicles at the fire station now.

[@neilbain8736]

I used to live down that way. I was never there but saw it either on maps or signposted when out on the bike. It reminds me of the land between Dundee and Perth: fields bordered by hills you could see for miles from, and an underused station (Errol which closed on Sept 30th, 1985). It's like a hidden bit of Gloucestershire It's a shame it lost its footbridge. Maybe I missed something here but foot bridges and 25KV overhead can live happily side by side. It's a shame about everything really. A lot of potential. Pilning, if it isn't already, is also the sort of word that should be in Douglas Adams' book, The Meaning of Liff (which is a wee village on the other side of Dundee).

[@alextee3727]

I’ve never had a bigger urge to go and steal a sign just because of the irony

[@pacificostudios]

Even with only a one-way service, Pilning could be a 7 day a week service and a regular request stop. It's miles to any other station on the Severn Tunnel line.

[@railotaku]

However Severn Beach station is also nearby with an hourly service, and depending on where you are in Pilning village may be closer than Pilning station

[@daveinchina]

Looking well Geoff! Love these videos so much. Have you done a video about the film 'Oh Mr Porter!' and the filming locations? (Oh and try and keep your head down when they're painting! 😉)

[@mysterybiscuits]

I used to live nearby in Thornbury - I never got on a train from Pilning but if I'm ever in the area again it's on my to-do list!

[@wetasspaddington]

if only we got our own line back again in thornbury soon... but at least charfield will make things better !

[@andrewnorth170]

Crazy how its just 1 platform now from 2 stations! just crazy

[@EdwardoRobinson_]

Geoff is just such a good KZbinr, I love these videos

[@thecloughnetwork]

After 5/6 years of waiting and here we are!

[@LancashireLass]

Geoff trying to outdo the AI on novelty bin shots. 😁

[@holnrew]

That HTV tshirt brought back memories I didn't know I had

[@HenrysAdventures]

Great video! I wish we still had Motorail trains!

[@Ztbmrc1]

So the electrification is very recent there? Quite heavy cross beams over the tracks. Have enjoyed the both of you sweating in the heat!

[@blackfalcon1324]

I love these little train stations out in the middle of nowhere.

[@cazharris5581]

As an old tv idents nerd, I love the HTV aerial t shirt 😊

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Well, at least it wasn't the Black and White "migraine" Harlech logo!

[@cazharris5581]

@@robertwilloughby8050 That one is hard on the eyes but they say it looked better on a 405 tv - I think it was just because it was the 60s and they were all on drugs 🤣

[@EssJayBee]

Geoff should've used the HTV ident music at the end of the video.

[@flashylite]

2:11 Helpy the helpful help point! 😅

[@mk4903-y1k]

Excellent T Shirt Ed!

[@EdwinWalkerProfile]

To be fair, Lawrence Hill also lost its footbridge somewhere along the way. And 2 of its platforms. And its southbound platform has no step-free access. And there are no overhead wires.

[@tsungiraichiramba]

Brilliant video Geoff.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

I need to do this station! I went through it on Day 7 of my recent holiday, but there was no chance of getting off.

[@bacongaming6094]

Really wished I could see you as I love our channel and trains! Love your videos and thanks for doing these perfect videos! ❤❤❤

[@rwm2986]

Thanks Geoff. You should really go back to Breich to see that it did not become the Scotrail Pilning!

[@NZVideoMaker]

One thing missing in these end of line and least used stations is a map showing more of the UK so us overseas people know roughly where these places are without looking it up on Google. :)

[@anniesoernym]

During the least used station intro music part there's always a map included and it is always (?) changed slightly so that the location of that video's station is discernible. If you're unsure, just pause the video for a moment and give yourself time to find the station 😊

[@JBLewis]

Taking a look at Google Maps Satellite View, you can still get a reasonable idea where the mainline split just "before" (East of) the current Pilning station, and looped around, roughly tangent to the M4, and down to Severn Beach Station.

[@properaparada]

Does @TheTimTraveller let you use the pedantry corner?

[@jimparlett4099]

According to google maps, the most popular time for people to visit Pilning station is between 1am and 2am in the dark. I'm not sure what strange customs Gloucestershire people get up to in the wee hours, but I suspect it's something they wouldn't want their mothers to know about!

[@GreenJimll]

Probably taking their dogs for a walk...

[@TonyTheYouTuba]

@@GreenJimllI see what you did there… 😂

[@espeon144]

THANK YOU GEOFF IVE BEEN WAITING!!

[@grangetowncardiff6935]

Wasn't' Pilning where you got on the Car/ Train to go from England to Wales without using the Ferry? Disembarking at ? Where I've done this as a child, but cant recall now.

[@frankiii9165]

Pilning sounds like it can be somewhere near München or Wien lol

[@deejayC]

Instant Thumbs Up for the HTV West T Shirt

[@WelshMullet]

The selfie stick sign i think is now all over the SWML stations that have been electrified

[@damian-transport-enthusiast]

Great video! As Always! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to upload!

[@bobsrailrelics]

Love the battle Pilning has to reopen their platform 2. Its only 10 minutes by taxi to Seven Beach, so I guess someone has said that is why we don't need it! If you need a guide when you do least used station in South Glamorgan, I will bore you witless with Welsh railway history 😅

[@Thornaby37]

Trying to plan a journey from Pilning to Polesworth might bring up some interesting results

[@TheDaveWoods]

If you're ever filming in the New Forest (Hampshire) Brockenhurst was also a motorail terminus for services to Scotland! in the 1970s

[@winterbliss4459]

are there any remains of it?

[@TheDaveWoods]

@@winterbliss4459 I haven't been there in years so couldn't say. It's still a working station so I'm sure there are remnants

[@TSCappuccino]

Kensington (Olympia) Station used to have Motorail Terminal-now it’s a car park.

[@johnUB4478]

I believe the bridge was removed because the overhead wires were put in, and they never replaced the bridge, which is shame. I've not been to Pilning for a while. I must go back there soon.

[@brayster1979]

Love the HTV West T-shirt

[@Tube-Shots]

I watch this now, but I know ill watch it a few more times in the next few months ive just been re-watching the end of the line series

[@johnstilljohn3181]

If there could be a link re-instated to Severn Beach, it could form part of a loop line for Bristol...

[@misterflibble9799]

Would be nice, but rather tricky, since there are now lots of houses built on the route.

[@wetasspaddington]

@@misterflibble9799 tramtrain time ! tramtrain time !

[@walkingtheboogie]

When talking about traditional counties, which historic date do you use? 🤔😁 I'm a cartographer and now work in street maning and numbering, hence my interest in such pedantry.

[@btuckervideos4705]

It's 9 July, and we haven't had a new Least Used Station video in over 9 months - we need a new Least Used video shortly

[@daniel_dsouza_]

I love the fact there is 11 parking spaces, not 10, or 5, or 2, or 100 like Epping on the Central line!

[@Biadosaru]

Or 15 to match the number of storeys on the stairs

[@misterflibble9799]

I know the Pilning Station Group won't like me saying it, but IMHO the existing station needs to be closed and a new one built at the B4055 crossing. If that were the case, it would actually be IN the village rather than a mile away down an unlit country lane with no pavements. And, if they could force developers to build a short link in to Lanson Roberts Road, it would be a useful station for commuters to the huge distribution parks nearby, and it might actually thrive. As it is, it's in the middle of nowhere, isolated from the massive employment centres by fields and the M49, with all the access routes being pedestrian-and-cycle-unfriendly country lanes.

[@checkflaps]

And easy access to The Wave - who like to show off green credentials. What better way to get to your surf, than by train (although GWR would have kittens if 30 people with surf boards all got on / off at once 😅 )

[@mrcogginsgarage7062]

Search for sewweb for this and more n Pilning

[@conscienceaginBlackadder]

Rail in modern era suffers so much from legacy of silly station locations that are no practical good to anyone. Of course they should move it + you would think campaigners would agree so

[@pilningstation8155]

... and have *you* asked the people of Pilning what they actually want? A modestly sized station at the back of their gardens where trains can't stop without causing havoc because of the proximity to the tunnel and a steep incline, or a parkway-style station away from the old centre of the village, with newly built access roads and a link to Junction 1 on the M49?

[@wetasspaddington]

@@pilningstation8155i can understand this case, and it would need new development next to it (probably as part of some expansion of the severn enterprise zone) with good transport links (inc cycle). a regular shuttle bus through the severn enterprise zone, severn beach, pilning (town AND station), the wave, easter compton (which has lots of new housing dev), wild place/new bristol zoo, and cribbs causeway for onward travel would be amazing both for commuters (trains/bus in from bristol at severn beach/cribbs) as well as daytrippers from the city on the weekend. you could get lots of local groups, developers, and companies behind that, especially as bristol keeps developing even further down the severn vale. could even go to the hypothetical chittening station to the south for connections to the henbury loop which fosbr has proposed and would also improve capacity on the severn beach line massively. demand-responsive for peak times too, so wouldnt be crazy expensive to run given the predictability of commuters. alas

[@customtransport2777]

I might be planning to go to Shippea Hill, one of the UK’s most isolated stations ever

[@tidmouthmilk12]

Not sure I appreciate the sponsor of the video given my father, someone who has worked in the booking office for over a decade, is currently facing the prospect of his job being taken away and replaced with apps and ticket machines. Might not seem like a big deal to people living in London where pretty much everything is covered by an Oyster card, but people elsewhere in the country a lot of the time prefer dealing with an actual person. Especially older passengers who aren't as au fait with smart phones or TVMs (the latter of which hardly work half the time anyway)

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

1:28 The best of the commercial television idents I reckon. The audio and visual were so good that they didn't really change over its long lifetime. Aerial and Waterfall for ever!

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

I’m looking forward to the episode which shows Old Oak Common as the least used station in London when it opens. 🥴

[@rockerjim8045]

only if this crap govt doesn’t cancel the whole of HS2

[@RobertBeisley]

Maybe it’s in the ceremonial county of Middlesex ?

[@highpath4776]

Could have a historic transport day at the station maybe to use the car park a bit., or a Saturday Farmers Market

[@PhilMakesThings]

I’ve driven through Pilning many times and didn’t even know it had a station 😅

[@Zimpaz]

Big up the Gloucestershire massive!

[@indydas981]

Hopefully Doleham is on the list again soon!

[@jordank195]

Hey Geoff! Quick question about your standup shows - will there be any tickets sold on the door? Didn’t manage to prebook :(

[@alivinghuman1]

Most probably not is my guess as i assume if prebooking is closed then tickets must have sold out

[@jordank195]

@@alivinghuman1 logical but the website says “Cash tickets are available for 30 mins at the box office” but it’s not clear if this is in addition to the ones available online

[@alivinghuman1]

Aha

[@andrewwebb3431]

I might be going slightly mad but I’m sure the train that goes past at 11:39 played the theme to Match of the Day with its horn. I think I watch too much telly…

[@fussyboy2000]

I walked from Severn Beach. It was ok. There's a pub just down the road if that's your sort of thing.

[@Sim0nTrains]

Still need to visit Pilning. Great video Geoff.

[@boalbads]

The music's back! Finally!!

[@AFCManUk]

Geoff, you need to take the 'Least Used Stations' Music, and release it as a charity dance single!!

[@joemercedeschannel196]

I've been to Gloucestershire yesterday. And I haven't known this for my life