Bristol Rail Regeneration

Building a brighter future for Bristol’s railway

Local leaders first through the ticket gates at Bristol Temple Meads Eastern Entrance

Bristol Temple Meads new Eastern Entrance has opened in a double celebration alongside the University of Bristol’s new Enterprise Campus.

Leaders from Bristol City Council, Bristol Temple Quarter, University of Bristol and West of England Mayoral Combined Authority joined MP Kerry McCarthy at a joint launch event on Monday 7 September 2026, ahead of the entrance opening to passengers.

Connecting the station to the university campus and the wider Bristol Temple Quarter, the first of three new entrances will improve connectivity to the east of the city, with 2.5 million people a year set to use the entrance by 2030.

Construction timeline

Summer 2021 – extension of the passenger subway underneath platform 15 during our summer Bristol East Junction track upgrade.

Autumn 2023 – breaking through the retaining wall to fully excavate the passenger subway.

Spring 2024 – construction of the entrance building itself.

September 2024 – building construction complete. Hibernation period while University of Bristol Campus built around it.

May 2026 – final fit out with ticket gates and vending machines installed.

Ashley Down station opened

Ashley Down station in Bristol opened to the public on Saturday 28 September 2024, becoming the second new station for the city in little over a year, following on from Portway Park and Ride which opened in August 2023.

  • Construction started on the £16m station in February 2023 and took a total of 117,000 hours to complete, including:
  • 17 days of 24-hour working in June 2023, to build the station platforms
  • Full weekend in September 2023 to install the lift shafts
  • Two days over Christmas 2023 to install the station footbridge

Train services call at the station on an hourly basis Monday to Saturday and on a two-hourly basis on Sundays.

More new stations and local train services 

The West of England Combined Authority’s MetroWest programme is bringing new stations and an increase in local train services to the region. Find out more on the TravelWest website. 

Bristol Temple Meads 

The transformation of Bristol Temple Meads continues through a variety of projects that make up the Bristol Rail Regeneration programme and the city’s Temple Quarter regeneration programme. Working with our partners we will create a world class station, offering a brighter welcome to the city and a better experience for our passengers.  

Refurbishing the roof 

The huge project to refurbish the main train shed roof and platform canopies at Bristol Temple Meads has been completed.  

Throughout the course of the project, extensive steelwork and timber repairs were carried out and all of the glazing was replaced.

With our teams working from a safety deck just below the roof, all of the components were stripped back to the bone, with thousands of repairs painstakingly completed before a new paint scheme was added.

Project in numbers

  • 2,500 steelwork repairs completed
  • 23 significant timber defects repaired in the gable ends
  • 13 timber cladding defects resolved
  • 1,200 glazing panels installed, equivalent to 2,200 square metres

There is separate roof work getting underway in other parts of the station as outlined below.

Rewire 

Our project, that has been working to modernise the station’s power supply and electrical systems, is due for completion in the autumn of 2026.

Alongside the roof project, we have been working to make the station’s electrics more reliable, resilient and energy efficient. Over the past few months there has been a big focus on installing lighting on the platform canopies. This work is nearing completion.

Improvements the new system will bring include:

  • New energy efficient lighting and improved lighting control
  • Back up lighting system installed (static inverters).
  • New, segregated power supply, meaning more resilience, improved flexibility and greater capacity in supplies for both station operations and retail.

The rewire scheme is an enabler for a range of improvements through the station including plans for enhanced Customer Information Systems.

Midland and Passenger Shed plans

Refurbishment of rooms within the Midland Shed is getting underway, so they can be turned into new retail units. This work is supported by a £500,000 Railway Heritage Trust grant. Repairs to the Midland Shed roof are also being completed and new guttering has been installed.

Renovations are well underway in the Passenger Shed, with a focus on the roof, guttering and repairs to internal floors and the ceiling. The lower level is being renovated to create updated office space.

New entrances for Bristol Temple Meads

Bristol Temple Meads is at the heart of the Temple Quarter regeneration programme, and plans for new station entrances are firmly a part of the transformation of the area.

£95m of funding for the first phase of the programme is focused on the station and its surroundings; creating a Northern Entrance and Southern Gateway, including a multi-storey car park, in addition to the newly opened eastern entrance, as well as new commercial and retail space.

Visit the Temple Quarter website to find out more.

Get in touch

If you have any additional questions about the work taking place in your area please call our dedicated 24-hour National Helpline on 03457 11 41 41 or visit our contact us page.