Charfield railway station

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
General information
Location	Charfield, South Gloucestershire England
Coordinates	51.628051°N 2.399764°W / 51.628051; -2.399764
Grid reference	ST723922
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Key dates
8 July 1844 (1844-07-08)	Opened
4 January 1965 (1965-01-04)	Station closed to passengers
6 September 1965 (1965-09-06)	Station closed to goods
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	FORMER BOOKING HALL AND WAITING ROOM AT CHARFIELD STATION, STATION ROAD
Designated	5 June 1984 (1984-06-05)
Reference no.	1114969[1]
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	FORMER STATIONMASTER'S HOUSE AT CHARFIELD STATION, STATION ROAD
Designated	5 June 1984 (1984-06-05)
Reference no.	1321194[2]
Location

v t e Bristol and Gloucester Railway
Legend
Gloucester–Newport line (SWR) to Newport Gloucester Gloucester (Eastgate) Birmingham & Gloucester Rly (MR) to Birmingham Tuffley loop line  M5  Haresfield Golden Valley line (GWR) to Swindon Stonehouse (Bristol Road) Stonehouse & Nailsworth Rly (MR) to Nailsworth/Stroud Stroudwater Navigation Frocester Cam & Dursley Coaley Junction Dursley & Midland Junction Rly (MR) to Dursley  M5  Berkeley Road Sharpness branch line (MR) to Sharpness  M5  Charfield Wickwar Wickwar Tunnel Thornbury branch line (MR) to Thornbury Yate Westerleigh Junction South Wales Main Line (GWR) to London Paddington Coalpit Heath Sidings Ram Hill Colliery Westerleigh Goods Depot  M4  Bristol Parkway Mangotsfield & Bath branch line (MR) to Bath South Wales Main Line (GWR) to Swansea Mangotsfield Goods line to Avonmouth docks Staple Hill Tunnel Staple Hill Filton Abbey Wood Fishponds Avonside Locomotive Works Clifton Extension Rly (GWR & MR) to Avonmouth Kingswood Junction River Frome Atlas Locomotive Works and collieries  M32  Stapleton Road Lawrence Hill Waste Depot Goods Depots Bristol St Philip's 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 Philip's Marsh depot River Avon (to the sea) Bristol & North Somerset Rly (GWR) Bristol and Exeter Railway (GWR) to Taunton and Exeter

History

Charfield station opened with the Bristol and Gloucester line on 8 July 1844 and had substantial Brunel-designed buildings on both platforms. There were sidings to the north and 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.^[3]

Passenger services were withdrawn from Charfield on 4 January 1965^[4] with the removal of stopping services on the Bristol to Gloucester line. Goods services were withdrawn on 6 September of the same year. The main station building and the station master's house remain, in residential use.^[5]

Proposed reopening

Services between Bristol and Birmingham pass through Charfield. There have been discussions about the viability of reopening the station. The costs 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.

In February 2019, the West of England Combined Authority announced a £500,000 feasibility study into plans for two new bypasses and work to see whether Charfield is viable for reopening to passengers.^[6] In June 2019, a further £900,000 was allocated for the production of a full business case for the reopening of the station.^[7]

The January 2020 version of the Joint Local Transport Plan 4 (JLTP4, led by the West of England Combined Authority^[8]) proposed to deliver by 2023–2024 a "New station at Charfield funded through the WECA Investment Fund, to support housing growth".^[9]

In June 2020, Councillor Toby Savage, leader of South Gloucestershire Council, mentioned the possibility of re-opening Charfield station during an announcement of plans for enhanced services between Bristol and Gloucester.^[10]

A plan agreed by the West of England Combined Authority on 8 December 2020 set out projects that could potentially be delivered between 2020 and 2030, including the reopening of Charfield station.^[11]

A 12-week public consultation on the re-opening proposals was held between 19 October 2021 and 10 January 2022, with the new station proposed to open during Spring 2027.^[12]

Planning permission for the new station (South Gloucestershire Council, ref P22/05778/R3F) was granted in March 2023. Preparation work for construction started in May 2025 and expected to be finished in early 2027.

The business case contains contain journey estimates of 86,673 in 2027, of which 76,588 will be new to rail.

These journey numbers are forecast to grow to 128,387 by 2030 (with 113,485 new to rail journeys) and 154,010 by 2042 (with 136,305 of those being new to rail).

Services

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Wickwar Line open, station closed		Bristol and Gloucester Railway Midland Railway		Berkeley Road Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Terminus		Sharpness Branch Line Midland Railway		Berkeley Line and station closed
	Proposed services
Yate		Great Western Railway MetroWest		Cam and Dursley