The new £41.7m Charfield Station is taking shape, with platforms and footbridge already in place.

It's due to open next spring

The station will give residents of Charfield and surrounding areas access to rail services running through the village for the first time in more than 60 years.

Train services - operated by GWR - will initially be every hour and will reach central Bristol in 32 minutes, and Gloucester in 22 minutes.

Construction is due to begin in August 2025 and will be done in stages, including:

construction of the station, including footbridge and platforms
construction of the station forecourt
construction of the southern car park
improvements to Station Road including widening of carriageway and footpaths, and work to the rail access point
final works on Little Bristol Lane, including road surfacing
The new station is expected to open in spring 2027.

Welcome to the Charfield Station newsletter

Dear stakeholder,  Further to our last newsletter, please find below the latest updates about the Charfield Station project.

Project updates
Overnight works to remove trackside vegetation have now been completed. We will be back on-site to clear land next week (from Monday 10 March), however the further vegetation removal will take place during the day. Thank you for your understanding.

In other news, we have refreshed the Give Way road markings and edge lines at the subway between Little Bristol Lane and Station Road. In addition, we will be installing ‘pedestrian in road’ signs at the subway during March. 

Also during March, we will be installing double yellow lines in lieu of the previous school keep clear markings on Manor Lane at the junction with Wotton Road. These changes are taking place in response to feedback from residents. 

Throughout this month, you will see increased activity at the location of the proposed Southern Car Park. Temporary fencing has been installed to mark the new land ownership boundary (please note that the fencing does not relate to the size of the car park, which is smaller). 

Tree felling and planned power outage
On Monday 10 March, we will be commencing tree felling and vegetation removal along the length of Station Road.  A qualified ecologist will be undertaking a check of the trees and vegetation before and during removal to make sure no nesting birds or other wildlife is present.  This work will involve felling trees that are in the proximity of overhead power lines. To ensure the safety of our team and the public, National Grid have scheduled a planned power outage for Saturday 22 March. This is likely to be a full day outage and will affect a small number of properties. National Grid will write to you soon if your property is going to be affected.  We are fully aware of the potential disruption that this will cause and sincerely apologise in advance for any inconvenience. 
Scaffolding at the former station booking hall

We previously told you that we were putting in place protective scaffolding around the former station booking hall. This is for the protection of the railway during the work in the area.  For the safety of our staff and other railway users, some of this work must be carried out overnight when trains are not running.  We will therefore be working on the night of Saturday 15th March to commence the scaffold erection and there will be subsequent daytime works during weekdays to complete it.

Planning updates
We will continue to submit documentation to the Local Planning Authority for discharging further planning conditions during 2025.   

We are also applying to the Local Planning Authority to make minor amendments to the scheme that have arisen during the detailed design stage. These include fencing, landscaping, pedestrian access, road crossings and platform infrastructure. These documents can be viewed on the planning applications website (search for P24/01637/RVC) and we will provide further updates in our next newsletter update. 

LOCATION: Land Off Station Road Charfield South Gloucestershire
DESCRIPTION: Installation of 2 no. platform railway station with station forecourt ((including cycle parking, bus shelter and car parking), erection of pedestrian footbridge and accessible lifts, passenger waiting shelters, creation of car park off Station road, with associated infrastructure and works to Station Road, Wotton Road and Little Bristol Lane.
REFERENCE NO: P22/05778/R3F
With reference to your correspondence this is to inform you that this application has now been considered and the Councils decision is: Approve with Conditions.

I’m told that South Glos have just granted Planning Permission for Charfield Station.

Update on Charfield train station

3rd March By Alex Seabrook

A new train station in a South Gloucestershire village is about to be given the green light by planners.

But a neighbour living next door to where the station will be built has complained that public announcements from the Tannoy will wake her up every morning.

Construction work could soon begin on the £22-million train station in Charfield, as South Gloucestershire Council is expected to grant planning permission imminently.

The station will run regular passenger trains to Bristol and Gloucester from about 6.30am until 11.30pm.

Transport planners hope the new station, which has been discussed for three decades, will improve access to jobs, education, shops and leisure. Councillors on the strategic sites delivery committee voted to approve planning permission on Thursday, March 2.

But due to a council error with a public consultation, the final decision on granting planning permission will be taken in the next few days.

...continues

Planners could give the go-ahead for a new train station in a village in South Gloucestershire next week. Charfield lies on the railway running from Bristol to Gloucester but has been left without a station for almost 60 years, although that could soon change.

The £22-million station would be built off Station Road in the centre of the village, with two platforms, a pedestrian footbridge, a bus stop, covered cycle parking, and car parking. The village’s old train station shut in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts, when many stations across the country closed.

The following planning application has been submitted to South Glos Council:


Go to www.southglos.gov.uk/planning-applications and search application number P22/05778/R3F for full details.

(Some people seem able to link directly to these things; I've never managed to work out how it's done!)

Installation of 2 no. platform railway station with station forecourt ((including cycle parking, bus shelter and car parking), erection of pedestrian footbridge and accessible lifts, passenger waiting shelters, creation of car park off Station road, with associated infrastructure and works to Sta... | Land Off Station Road Charfield South Gloucestershire

Only just spotted this

https://consultations.southglos.gov.uk/CharfieldStation/consultationHome

Shame as it would have been nice to have visited (now gone) the public consultation/s

P21/023/SCR | Screening opinion for the creation of a railway station including platforms and footbridges; car parking; bus interchange; highway improvements, and associated works. | Land Off Station Road Charfield South Gloucestershire GL12 8SY

Charfield Rail Station will provide much-needed access to the rail network for a catchment of up
to 14,500 residents within a 5km radius, reducing pressure on the road network in an area which
has high levels of car dependency due to limited of alternative transport modes and long
journey distances to key employment clusters in the North Fringe and Bristol City Centre.
The new station will lie at the heart of the village, presenting a unique opportunity to promote
access to the station by walking and cycling, with both existing and proposed new developments
in Charfield all located within a 10-minute walk of the Station.

The Charfield railway disaster was a fatal train crash which occurred on 13 October 1928 in the village of Charfield in the English county of Gloucestershire. The Leeds to Bristol London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) night mail train failed to stop at the signals protecting the down refuge siding at Charfield railway station. The weather was misty, but there was not a sufficiently thick fog for the signalman at Charfield to employ fog signalmen. A freight train was in the process of being shunted from the down main line to the siding, and another train of empty goods wagons was passing through the station from the Bristol (up) direction. The mail train collided with the freight train and was derailed, coming into collision with the up train underneath the road bridge to the north of the station.

Although there is not a copy of the accident report some info here http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=96