History - Avon Riverside Station

Dreams Can Come True!

Someone who has seen the Avon Valley Railway grow from its small beginnings to one of the major tourist attractions in the area is Business Development Manager David Cole. Here is his personal account of the work involved in bringing a new stage in the Railway's history into being.

Way back in the early '80s as a spotty teenager, I first made my acquaintance with the then Bitton Railway. I helped at weekends on the permanent way gang, extending the line north and dreaming of the day we'd have a station at the end of the track - so that we could call ourselves a real railway.

In 1999 we became that real railway - and what a difference it made. Oldland Common station was a massive achievement by volunteer effort and visitor numbers increased significantly. Although money was tight, our thoughts - or should I say dreams - turned to laying track south towards Bath and building a new platform in the heart of the Avon valley. By the year 2000, rails had reached the end of our then planning permission, still a few hundred yards short of the first major crossing of the River Avon on our way back to Bath.

At this point the Railway was presented with the challenge of bringing its biggest dream in the 30 year history of the organisation into reality: to turn a narrow, overgrown stretch of land into a gateway to the scenic Avon Valley.

With most of the laborious legal issues concluded, work on clearing the site began in the early part of 2002. Space was needed for a platform, main line and a run-round loop, as well as the Bristol and Bath Railway Path. Many commentators at the time said it couldn't be done, but this only spurred us on to prove them wrong.

The first priority was to build a new path for cyclists and walkers, giving them, in effect, their own platform with a resting place, cycle stands and an improved view over the surrounding countryside. Within a year, and at a cost of almost £30,000, the desired effect had been achieved.

Whilst all this was going on, other important parts of the jigsaw were fitting into place. The River Avon Bridge, a 1930s replacement for the original structure, had to assessed and passed fit for passenger trains to run across it. With the river as the boundary between South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset Councils, each authority owned one half of the bridge!

An agreement was reached on how the inspection would be funded and in August 2002 the site was awash with divers, abseilers and their equipment. The outcome - that the bridge was passed fit for use, but at a cost of almost £25,000.

October 2002 saw British Waterways begin building a new 50-metre public landing stage, adjacent to the river bridge and the picnic area which was being developed jointly by the Railway and South Gloucestershire Council. With work complete by January of 2003 this would become the means by which the Railway would eventually be able to offer joint rail and river trips.

Following a competition among the membership to find the most suitable name for the new platform, 'Avon Riverside' was chosen. At the side, work was beginning in earnest on developing the Railway's infrastructure. Exactly one year after work had commenced on the project, the first panels of track were being laid over the river bridge and onto Bath & North East Somerset soil.

By May 2003 the first point had been laid and, over the summer months, the main line was extended alongside the site where the platform would be built. With the track in place, it was now possible to build the platform and, with the help of a small but dedicated band of volunteers, the construction took no time at all.

Although Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for the Railway, the volunteers had the bit between their teeth as they could sense that an Easter 2004 opening was on the cards. So, over the winter months, a multitude of tasks were completed.

The ground frame, which controls the moving of the rails in the point, was fitted and tested. New lamp posts were made and installed at the back of the platform. The run-round loop, which allows the engine to move from one end of the train to the other, was laid and ballasted. Even falls of snow didn't prevent the team fitting the last of the edging slabs at Bath end of the platform.

At the beginning of March it was time for the all important inspection by Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate - this would decide if trains would run into Avon Riverside for Easter. The Railway Inspector, David Keay, spent a number of hours looking at the new track, platform and fencing and concluded that, subject to a few final adjustments being completed in time, the line could open on Good Friday.

Unfortunately, the excitement of this announcement only lasted a few short hours. Because of a law passed by Parliament in 1993 to regulate the privatised main line railways, the Avon Valley Railway was required to offer its new 350 metre 'network' to other operators - such as First Great Western and Virgin Trains - to see if they wanted to operate the track under franchise. This involved a 28 day public consultation period, which meant that approval from the Office of the Rail Regulator to run our trains on our track would not be forthcoming until the end of April.

Lobbying of our Member of Parliament and extensive coverage in the local press failed to have any effect on bringing the date forward. So Easter came and went, with trains stopping within a stone's throw of the new platform - but not being allowed to enter.

On 22nd April the Avon Valley Railway received official confirmation that Virgin Trains hadn't put in a bid to run the services, so we could now begin to plan the official opening of Avon Riverside for May 1st 2004.

The day itself dawned grey and overcast; heavy rain showers greeted the first train into Avon Riverside. However the weather did nothing to dampen everyone's enthusiasm - nor could it disguise the fact that the two year project, costing £150,000 to complete, was no longer a dream. The tireless dedication of the Railway's volunteers had triumphed again and, to them all, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So what now? To those who hope one day we will be running trains to the outskirts of Bath, all I can say is 'Dreams can come true'!!!

last updated: andy stone, Mon 3rd Jan 2005