Staple Hill railway station

Staple Hill
Staple Hill railway station in 1967
Location
Place	Staple Hill, South Gloucestershire
Area	South Gloucestershire
Grid reference	ST644757
Operations
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Platforms	2
History
1 November 1888	Opened
7 March 1966	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Staple Hill railway station was on the Midland Railway line between Bristol and Gloucester on the outskirts of Bristol. The station was on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway line, but opened in 1888, 44 years after the line had been opened through the site. It served the Victorian suburban developments in the area to the south of Mangotsfield.

Staple Hill was served by stopping trains between Bristol and Gloucester and also by trains between Bristol and Bath that used the Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line. Set in a cutting and with a tunnel at the east end of the station, it had difficult access and was approach by zigzag paths down the cutting embankment. The station buildings were in Gloucestershire, but the platforms extended inside the Bristol city boundary.

No goods facilities were ever provided at Staple Hill, but the station was well-used by commuters to Bristol and north to the factories at Mangotsfield. Services between Bristol and Gloucester were withdrawn on 4 January 1965 and between Bristol and Bath on 7 March 1966, when the station closed. The line through the station was due to close on 3 January 1970, with services between Bristol and Gloucester diverted to the former Great Western Railway route via Filton Junction, but a landslip at Staple Hill a week before closure meant the diversion came into effect early. The route is now part of a cycle path and one of the platforms is still visible.

Coordinates: 51°28′45″N 2°30′50″W / 51.4792°N 2.5138°W / 51.4792; -2.5138