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Monday 17 Dec 2018

Passengers at Bristol Temple Meads to benefit from easier station access as new ticket barriers are officially opened

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Two brand new ticket gate locations have been officially opened at Bristol Temple Meads station today (Monday 17 December) to allow for faster and easier access into and out of the station.

The new ticket gates are located at Queen Anne Gate and beside Bonapartes café and will be open for passenger use during peak times on week days, from 7am to 10am in the morning, and from 4pm to 7pm during the evening.

Eight new ticket gates have been installed at the new Bonapartes entrance on platform three, with six new gates acting as an exit only at Queen Anne Gate. Both locations include two wide aisle ticket gates to improve accessibility. The ticket gates will ease congestion, reducing the bottleneck that occurs at peak times by more than doubling the capacity of the existing entrances.

Currently, 11.3 million passengers pass through the station each year, with that number set to rise following significant upgrades to the railway in the Bristol area.

Throughout 2018, Network Rail has been working on a number of projects in Bristol, including the largest ever re-signalling scheme completed over Easter, and the ongoing work to double the number of tracks at Filton Bank. These upgrades will enable a significant increase in passenger and freight trains from 2019 to meet growing demand.

Mark Langman, route managing director at Network Rail said: “The introduction of the new ticket gates at Bristol Temple Meads will greatly improve the passenger experience for those who use the station by reducing the bottleneck that builds up at peak times.

“The number of ticket gates has more than doubled and as well as reducing congestion it will also improve safety.

“This is another step forward in the transformation of rail travel in Bristol.”

Tim Bowles, Mayor of the West of England, said: “Today marks an important moment for Bristol and the West of England. Passengers this morning were already seeing the benefits of being able to get in and out of the station quicker; and this is just the start of the work with Network Rail at Temple Meads as we look together towards the plans for the station masterplan.”