St Andrews Road - Least Used Station in Bristol

[@Sim0nTrains]

The request stop status was removed from the timetable in the May 2014 but not 100% sure on that one

[@stevegregory3208]

@@geofftech2 Looking at the National Rail timetables it was a request stop in the summer 2012 edition but not in the winter 2016-17, so 2014 is definitely plausible.

[@simonkirkbright5197]

You were quite right...it wasn't worth it.

[@steady_94]

Simon Kirkbright I didn’t pause it and it still wasn’t worth it 😂

[@anthonyholroyd5359]

I'm thinking that Scotland may be easier to do by region . . . I.e. Least used station in the southwest Least used station in the Glasgow suburban area Least used station in the Edinburgh suburban area Least used station in Fife Least used station in the North east (angus and Aberdeenshire) Least used station in the highlands If you need a companion . . . I'm a Scotrail guard - but let me check my off duty :P

[@NoisyGiraffe]

Anthony Holroyd You could do it by combining council areas that have a North/South/East/West prefix. It would make for more genuine Least Used stations and be more worthwhile for Geoff to travel up to.

[@anthonyholroyd5359]

@@NoisyGiraffe what about the western isles, orkney and Shetland?

[@NoisyGiraffe]

Anthony Holroyd Least used CalMac ferry?? :P

[@benjamintery7847]

Least used bus stop would be cool

[@AGNETHAFALTSK0G]

@@benjamintery7847 the least used station in Scotland is probably loch Tay halt.

[@jonathanbeale3978]

New subset “Least used station, with a Hanson depot visible”. We know of 2 now

[@thecornedbeefcouncil9792]

St Andrews road was indeed a request stop. I used to regularly drive along that route until 10 years ago before moving depot, good to see very little has changed in that time.

[@simonscott9043]

Is it OK that I saw the sign then rewound and paused it then felt an increase in feelings of self worth whilst agreeing that the sign isn't worth pausing for?

[@joesos]

i didnt need to rewind it...

[@CityWhisperer]

I was able to read it without pausing it. Seems like the hundreds of hours reading just before exams payed off.

[@willjones8849]

Up the Bris

[@CR47Ycam]

BRISTOLLLL (carpet factory)

[@thomasrichardson4480]

COYR 🔴⚪️🔴⚪️

[@tomarse99]

‘What the hell is that’ - it’s a coal hopper / loader. The coal is transported from portbury docks under the river Avon and then loaded by where you were. Less these days due to closures of coal fired Powerstation a

[@mikerowland4717]

Actually, Portbury Dock is the other side of the Avon River from Avonmouth Dock. St Andrews Road is on the Severn Beach branch, not the Portbury branch. In the video, the cranes in the background indicate the location of Avonmouth Docks. Coal came in here directly by ship and was then loaded at the now empty facilities you see in the video. All of the empty sidings and the coal loading tower at St Andrews Road station was known as Avonmouth BHT (Bulk Handling Terminal) and it was all for coal traffic, mostly for Didcot Power Station.

[@tomarse99]

Mike Rowland i know I was born in Pill. However coal was transported under the Avon and along the large conveyor into there as well. They built a tunnel in the 1990s hence the large conveyor which runs along past the old spillers and now demolished ford mill before going underground. If I recall correctly when building the tunnel they found an unexploded WW2 bomb in the Avon and we all had to be prepared to be evacuated out of village. God help us if it had blown and taken the Avonmouth bridge out!

[@mikerowland4717]

Thank you Tom, Sorry, I thought you were saying that trains moved the coal from Portbury to Avonmouth. I appreciate your local knowledge.

[@tomarse99]

Mike no offence taken - the two lines that run down the Avon are quite the source of frustration. The Severn beach line was starved of funding for years and nearly ended up as a guided bus route. It’s on a massive revival with a new park and ride platform at Shirehampton opening next year. It would benifit so much more if the Henbury loop was opened for passenger use - trains could go around to Parkway etc. But the whole coal thing has hampered the Portishead branch reopening with loads and loads of paths on the line meaning difficult to put a passenger service inbetween despite fact none of the paths run anymore nor ever will

[@stevenjlovelace]

Make sure to pause at 13:25 to read the sign. It's totally worth it!

[@clnre]

Sadly the Henbury loop proposal, where passenger trains would operate a circular service via the Severn Beach line to St Andrews Road and then continue via Henbury, Filton Abbey Wood and the Filton Bank to Temple Meads is not part of the MetroWest scheme despite strong support from local politicians. Currently the MetroWest project only includes a very limited hourly service between Temple Meads and Henbury via Filton Bank and is years behind schedule.

[@fribbleblib]

I paused the video.... Anyone who didn't pause the video has no idea what I'm on about. They therefore need to go and pause the video.

[@johnward654]

fribbleblib what you one about matr

[@kuttispielt7801]

I read it without pausing

[@kaic]

yeah it wasn’t worth it 😂

[@CityWhisperer]

I was able to read it without pausing it. Seems like the hundreds of hours reading just before exams payed off.

[@steady_94]

Yeah I didn’t pause it but still get why you would. Don’t even know what made me do it 😂

[@stephenholt4670]

Obviously Geoff came here in 2017 too... Not an entrance or exit though

[@DanLoudShirts]

Italic E in the middle of PASSENGERS. Is this an 'E'-STER EGG?

[@BuzzinsPetRock78]

"Please don't pause the video...." ahh..too late. Well played.

[@daily8150]

I read that while the video was playing.

[@jonathancombe9991]

Couldn't help but notice but when you were standing by the bike racks at the entrance parked on the road behind was a van showing the DB (Deutsche Bahn) logo.

[@mats7492]

ITs technically not DB, but DB Schenker! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DB_Schenker

[@southcalder]

There is a DB Cargo drivers depot next door to the station. That’s what all the sidings are there for.

[@tycelight]

Actual BINS with bin liners rather than all those other fakirs with bin liners only blowing in the breeze rather than true bins.GWR have restored my faith in bins.

[@JenOnTheMove]

Also, a higher number of footbridges than the local average :-)

[@huwdavies6650]

There's many a time when I used to drive lorries I used to park up for the night alongside St Andrews road station, with the gentle soothing sound of Class 66's shunting helping me off to sleep.

[@paulfiler5100]

The two big red towers are coal silos, they held about 2000 tonnes of coal each and loaded trains.. now no longer used.. coal ran from portbury dock under the Avon in a tunnel on a conveyor..

[@rbrwr]

Severn Beach Line FTW! Only slightly cursed! (I say this from within sight of Montpelier station.) Thanks for coming back, Geoff. Bristol was made a county in its own right by a royal charter of 1373, which mostly meant that Bristol had its own sheriff and court and they didn't have to take criminals all the way to Gloucester for trial. This was not all that unusual - there were quite a lot of "counties corporate" - but where Bristol differed from most of them was that, rather than being deep within one county, it was on the border of two, and as its boundaries spread both south and north of the Avon, it incorporated places that had been part of Somerset as well as Gloucestershire. So it became a point of pride for Bristol to be its own county and not part of either. In 1974 it was incorporated into the new administrative county of Avon but it was re-established as a unitary authority and ceremonial county in 1996 with its own high sheriff and lord lieutenant. So we're happy for you to count us as a county for the purposes of Least Used.

[@Keithbarber]

Ok(*jjj*j****

[@daveman112]

I live around the Bristol parkway area and got the train to St Andrew's road for work a few years ago when I use to work around there, the request stop status was removed in 2014.

[@JenOnTheMove]

The least used music makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :-)

[@SolarRailway]

Let’s hope development of metrowest continues a pace

[@carolthomas6334]

Just as well you didn't visit on the 3rd of the month at 3PM. This is when the whole area has a alarm test (due to all the industry in case of emergency) its sooo loud and unless you're local ( I live in avonmouth) it would completely freak you out.

[@swipewrite]

The Towers were in the Coal Concentration Depot, that ran trains too ad from Didcot Power Station. I'm a retired Didcot driver and worked the Dicot coal trains from when it opened. The Avonmouth Concentrate Coal Depot ran from the 90's until the power station closed.

[@whiteloafers9658]

Used to be a fair amount of freight activity there a few years ago - you could reliably see 3 or 4 EWS class 66's parked up or coal being loaded. I've even seen the odd 08 working there in the past. Was a request stop once upon a time - there used to be a different information point near those bike stands which played a prerecorded message about sticking your hand out if memory serves That ASDA distribution building is an addtion of the last 5/7 years or so and there's even more development going on now with a big Amazon warehouse and a new junction being added to the M49 motorway for access.

[@callumltfc]

Can anyone Tell me why GWR Still have FGW On some of their trains when they've had the franchise for ages?

[@thomasthornton2002]

Callum LTFC, actually FGW won the franchise competition but its brand was so toxic due to the overcrowding etc they experienced that they decided to rebrand to GWR, so they’re not too fussed about changing over, that Said the vast majority of their stock has been repainted by now

[@rbrwr]

Because it's not actually a new franchise, it's just a rebranding of the existing company, still part of First Group. So presumably they don't feel the need to get rid of the old identity as strongly as if it were under new ownership.

[@12crepello]

The refurbishment of the 16X fleet was started shortly before the brand change. Therefore the first few 166's were done in FGW livery. These few will remain like this until the next scheduled repaint is due. I think there are only 2 or 3 166's in this livery.

[@katrinabryce]

It is the same company. They just decided to paint their trains a different colour.

[@tomarse99]

12crepello also the 165/166’s on the SB line were drafted in when the 387s replaced them on the reading / Berkshire services so probably haven’t been considered for repaint since. They’re still first GW furnishing inside even on those that have been repainted

[@eftalanquest]

i paused the video to read what the sign said at the end and now i feel dumb

[@MercenaryPen]

I managed to read the sign without pausing- I feel less dumb

[@briancd37]

likewise!

[@paulwheeler4283]

I paused it too lol

[@Hound87]

Loving the correct pronunciation of the word ‘Bath’ by your guest Adam!

[@stevegregory3208]

Yup, everyone knows it's pronounced Baff. Only posh people say baaaath.

[@davidsimms6609]

Proper like.

[@benramsay8043]

Has he forgotten that Andy was brought to us in last hst out of Paddington video

[@CityWhisperer]

*_This comment is loading...._* *_please wait...._* *_please wait...._* *_please wait...._* *_please wait...._* Great vid!

[@LeoStarrenburg]

Right, Pavlov response at 03:35, thank you Geoff. But never mind, 13:26 more than makes up for it !

[@HenrysAdventures]

Brilliant video! Growing up in the Thames Valley with Turbos it now seems strange seeing them buzzing around Bristol!

[@Bartlebooth23]

I heart the Severn Beach line. I leave the car there and catch the train to Clifton when I have radiophonic business there. I especially heart St Andrews Road. It feels transgressive.

[@grandassassin24]

I was in Bristol on Tuesday too! It is my hometown after all, sort of unsurprising. Its nice to know what they're talking about and exactly where all these things are for once. I can also say I've used St Andrew's Road, which is a first for Least Used too.

[@tobeytransport2802]

I rang the phone box! No one answered. No surprise their

[@caw25sha]

What would you have said if someone answered?

[@caw25sha]

1:25 These trains originally had the open button at the top and the close button at the bottom. When they were refurbished someone had the bright idea of putting the new buttons in the other way round. Confused people for months.

[@Clyde_Donovan]

Even though there is no dot matrix there is a departure monitor integrated in the help point. Those should count too, imho...

[@AllThingsRailways]

1:28 Two recycling bins, but neither are 'Blowing In The Breeze'.. 2:23 Perfect Bin-Alignment for the Tripod...

[@ymoot]

6:00 onwards: Deutsche Bahn (DB) car right behind you, how come thats there? PS: will you ever get rid of that italic E in the passengers per year statistics (10:00) or did you just leave it in as a joke one day? Really wanna know :D PPS: 13:25 You're such a show-off with those editing skills :D

[@southcalder]

FlugzeugFreak1 DB Cargo UK operate freight trains in Great Britain, they have a drivers depot at St. Andrews Road, next door to the station.

[@cedricklyon]

Hey ! Pleeeassse show us a situation map and a railroad map ! Thx !! :)

[@jackmartinleith]

Maps (old and current) here: www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/bristol-tm-to-severn-beach.html

[@DevonPixie1991]

I did St Andrews Road on have an adventure day and there’s nothing there 😄

[@emjackson2289]

St Andrew's Road: Gateway to Severn Beach

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

It is possible to do 4 least used stations around that area with a Heart of Wessex Day Ranger ticket, I think. It covers Pilning (Gloucestershire), St Andrews Road (Bristol), Bruton (Somerset), and Chetnole (Dorset). My nerdy question is: what it the maximum number of least used stations can be visited in one day?

[@Eddyspeeder]

To see a map of all least used stations that Geoff has (and hasn't) visited, go here: drive.google.com/open?id=1yWZrBzLhYn29KijA16iIi7Xj_7a3Iinu&usp=sharing

[@innsj6369]

Bristol is a bicycle city so it's no surprise there's at least one bicycle there :)

[@HighlandMike325]

Never forget that most modern supermarket distribution centres have more people in them than an average village

[@GuitargloucesterCoUk]

A while back on that line a tourist couple asked the guard which station was better to get off and visit. Avonmouth or Severn Beach. Guard replied " well if you get off at Severn Beach there's nothing there, and if you get off at Avonmouth there's absolutely nothing there'. St Andrew's Road looks even worse ! Of course once upon a time Severn Beach used to be a 'holiday' destination and the Wurzels wrote a song about it (taking the piss) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHO9hp2dgsqjb5Y

[@1258-Eckhart]

I think "Andrew" could have made a better effort with the Bristolian twang. English: "I'm rather pleased with my cattle feed this year." Somersetshire: "Ooh-arr, them's a foine set on mangelwurzels, tharr."

[@K-o-R]

They seem to be _really_ slow repainting those Networkers. How long has it _not_ been First Great Western?

[@alastairfulbrook4586]

About 2 years,at least.

[@BKNTH]

St. Andrews road was made a normal stopping station when the 2016/2017 Orr stats came out because of the increase of passengers and the industrial being popular

[@southcalder]

I’ve only been there once, when I worked for the signalling engineer at Temple Meads. I had to climb a signal just off the end of the platform on a drizzly day and came back down absolutely filthy. The whole place was covered in a fine layer of coal dust from the terminal next door. Avonmouth Docks is a thoroughly dismal place at the best of times, but on a rubbish day it really is depressing.

[@Gary85Paul]

I see that these videos are getting Easter eggs now! Nice sign at the end ;)

[@leahhumphrey9600]

Love Paul Merton. He’s at the comedy store in London almost every week and he’s brilliant

[@rbrwr]

Not only are there two Sunday trains *to* Taunton, there are two *from* Taunton, one from Weston-s-M and one from Exeter St David's.

[@benjamintery7847]

Am I the only one who loves FGW livery?

[@whiskerboii2466]

Yep...

[@WMTrainspotting]

Erm... yes.

[@whiskerboii2466]

I mean I absolutely hate the purple and the plain bold writing on the side of the train. It looks so terrible next to GWR Green

[@grahamwhitworth9454]

@@whiskerboii2466 GWR should have reverted to chocolate and cream livery.

[@whiskerboii2466]

@@grahamwhitworth9454 naah, in my opinion that would look worse than First Purple

[@QHarefield]

I was so busy reading the small sign at 13:24 that I didn't even glance at the much bigger one above it ...

[@maxbryson9419]

Having dyslexia does not make you stupid, Geoff. You should honestly be ashamed of yourself.

[@mrrico1974]

How wonderful! I used to get the train from Lawrence hill to st Andrews for work. It was very busy in the morning around 6.30am. lovely surreal journey. Especially in the fog!

[@Jeagles]

Your ability to be everywhere at once never ceases to amaze me

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

3:43 That’s the equivalent of 15 storeys! I like the hat. Merry Christmas

[@finnleystaub5936]

@Avery the Cuban-American Ok boomer.

[@holywater8132]

@@finnleystaub5936 learn the meaning of that phrase before you use it, kid

[@BrandanCooperBCFC]

yay! i am so happy you have done this Geoff i was going to message you because you mentioned this in the final HST from Paddington

[@gh1851]

3.39 All the Hanson's

[@metropod]

It's hard to watch this because my mind keeps flashing back to the Jack Churchill episode of "Citation Needed". I've got Brannan on a loop in my head yelling "BRISTOL! YOU'RE MINE!"

[@6yjjk]

So no dot matrix display, but train times shown on the help point screen. Half a tick?

[@TheThejpmshow]

I live in Weston-super-Mare and we still get some post addressed with AVON as the county, it’s been well over 20 years! What about Pilning?

[@tariqm6557]

Can you also do secrets of Tyne and Wear Metro

[@joesos]

he has! check his channel

[@johnevans7961]

Spent hours and hours in that brick cabin opposite the station when we used to run Avonmouth to Aberthaw coal trains. Cracking chuck wagon used to park up outside. Too. Later used to relieve the Ssndite there. Hardly ever go there now.

[@rossmetcalfe7808]

The Tyne & Wear Metro needs you!

[@joesos]

hes done a video on it, check his channel

[@mirandagoodwin2514]

Where is least used in Staffordshire

[@alexisdespland4939]

the beer is samauel adams named after an early american president from boston.

[@HatterDave]

Andrew... Adam looks suspiciously like former BDO World Champion turned commentator Mark Webster

[@YehudaKatz1]

So what does the real sign actually say?

[@dontmesswithness3291]

Can you please do the least used station in South Gloucestershire pilning

[@acmenipponair]

Why is there a DB (German Railway) car parking when you are talking about the facilities of this station?

[@rbrwr]

Presumably because DB Schenker's Avonmouth Bulk Handling Terminal is literally right next to the station.

[@kevinmc407]

Didn't Bristol to Severn Beach feature in a top 10 train journeys of the world? The older platforms suggest extremely long trains. Visit Severn beach and image a time before the Severn bridges, before tunnels, when this route to Wales was served by ferries. I hope all of that history can still be seen

[@southcalder]

Kevin Mc I’m sure at one time, the Severn Beach Line was declared one of the worlds most scenic railways in a Thomas Cook guidebook. If you ignore the bits through Lawrence Hill, Stapleton Road and Avonmouth Docks, it could very well be.

[@travelcampervansandmore]

The reason it is the least used is that all the services seem to stop at Avonmouth. The walk from St Andrews Road to Avonmouth is not pleasant.

[@JVerschueren]

Oi!! -pausing videos to read signs which appear in them, happens to be a habit of mine, I'll have you know. Not for you to judge in my ever so slightly not so humble opinion. :P

[@paulyh4531]

Label gotta be at the front ! That's a bollocking from mother 😂😉

[@rayanthony5029]

One of my local Bristol stations. Been through there many times on my way to and from Severn Beach but never got off (or on). Thanks for another fun but interesting video Geoff.

[@VaughanMcAlley]

Musicians: That was a great take. I think we've got it! Me (sound engineer): Ummmm…

[@Razaak666]

At least the information point at St. Andrew's Road works. I regularly use Severn Beach station for work, and the information point has been broken for some 6 months.

[@eastpavilion-er6081]

13:26 Ah I see what you have done there.

[@alexmuscat9347]

Please can you do history of South Wales train or something you have the tondu line and least used station in South Wales

[@lostjackets4006]

I paused the video at the end to read the sign but it wasn't worth it

[@Eddyspeeder]

I think it was.

[@MrBoombastic1]

Severn Beach is very industrial

[@rbcc_ab]

I think the most facinating thing is that when you do the facilities there is a DB car in the background which is actually the company operating most German train services and which has bought a lot of UK public transportation.

[@jamesballantyne8349]

So, just saying, Tyne and wear metro, you can explore, do least used, there's a Stephenson's train museum of the metro in north shields/percy main, and castles, and the end of hadrains wall.. hoping you can do this in 2020...

[@TopAbandonedPlacesURBEX]

Whitchurch is the least used station in Cardiff which is a county as well as a city

[@conscienceaginBlackadder]

and opens onto the same side street as the next station. and on a clear day, is in sight of the buffer at the next station the other way. Not many least used stations have those attributes, which should attract tourists to stop it being the least used.

[@TopAbandonedPlacesURBEX]

conscience aginBlackadder it should really mate to be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if Geoff’s videos have brought more passengers to alight at these stations

[@lfo414]

I've failed to get off here approximately 10 times, and have had to walk to very near this station from Avonmouth. Hadn't noticed the 6 hour ago in the timetable. Curses.

[@TG_Trains]

At 1:00 Adams clothes match the interior of the train.

[@callumhouse9043]

This is one of the places on the Bristol Monopoly board. It is not even one of the stations, it is where Whitechapel Road normally is

[@harvisterc]

Do the least used station in devon soon

[@buksi6342]

It’s only served by National Rail on summer Sundays, as part of GWR’s Exeter-Okehampton service.

[@MsEdy09]

Warrington west is open. Please visit it

[@ryantatum1886]

Could you do "Least used station in Norfolk" please?

[@ryantatum1886]

@@Andrewjg_89 thanks

[@7FlyingPenguin]

I used to get the train to Avonmouth everyday and often wondered what it was like at St Andrew's Road... and now I know.

[@paulharvey9149]

It looked a lot more desolate than that, with petrochemical works just over the fence. I've got off there too - back in the 1980s. And I got on at the other platform, too! Merry Christmas to you both!

[@lucodeath]

It is not now the least used station in Bris.

[@kingdhansak]

If Bristol is a county, should there now be a least used of Greater London? (Unless one's been done already and I've forgotten)

[@kingdhansak]

Cheers Geoff, memory completely jogged!!

[@Sarge084]

I've used St Andrews Road a few times. Handy parking place to pop into Bristol. Oh, and Bristol isn't a county, it's a unitary authority, it performs the functions of both County and District Councils. These unitary authorities are the result of the new (1972) counties being disbanded.