Portishead Railway – January 2026 Update

Main photo: Site of Portishead station looking from Quays Avenue towards Bristol

Preparatory work for the new Portishead railway is now underway. Contractors are due to start main construction work in Spring 2026.

Tim Weekes went for a walk from Portishead to Pill to see the progress on the ground. Here is his update.

Portishead Station

The new Portishead Station will be located where Quays Avenue crosses the currently-derelict trackbed.

Quays Avenue roundabout will be reduced in size and moved to the west of its present location, on the right in the photo above. The station site is to the left, with the station car park in the centre of the picture. The remaining 400m of trackbed to the west of the new station site will become a walkway, leading towards the town’s High Street.

Ahead of these works, contractors have removed trees from the middle of the existing Quays Avenue roundabout .

Most of the station will be to the east of the existing alignment of Quays Avenue. Vegetation has been cleared from this site, but the old track remains in place for now.

Around Portbury

Contractors have now cleared the heavily-overgrown route. They have done this during the winter months to minimise its environmental impact.

From the road bridge adjacent to the old Portbury Station, sections of the old track can be seen piled up ready for removal. North Somerset Council have donated some of the old track to the Avon Valley Railway, but much of it would appear to have reached the end of its useful life. Many of the rail chairs – the iron fixtures which hold the rails in place on the sleepers – were cast in 1957.

A clear access way now exists along much of the line of the railway, although some lengths of old track are still in situ.

Between Portbury and Pill, National Cycle Network Route 26 follows the alignment of the Portishead Railway. In some places it actually uses the ‘four foot’, with the old rails forming the edges of the path.

The cycle track shares three underpasses with the railway here, passing under Royal Portbury Dock Road, Marsh Lane and the M5. In each case the railway will be realigned a little to the south. A barrier will be erected so that the railway and cycle path can safely share the route.

Pill

Soon after passing under the M5, the derelict section of the Portishead Railway joins the still-in-use freight line to Royal Portbury Dock at Portbury Dock Junction. The current junction will be moved to the Bristol end of Pill station, with the two tracks running side by side through the station.

Pill Station has two platforms, but only one of them will reopen. Passengers will access this from the site of Station House, which will be demolished to make way for a small car park and an access way.

Updates

We plan to return in the spring, once main works are underway, to give an update. We have waited a long time for this, and will be watching with great interest!