First Great Western launched additional evening services on the Severn Beach Line on Monday 17 September. The extra service will improve passengers’ journey experience and provide a boost to the spectacular growth in passenger numbers on the line between Bristol Temple Meads and Avonmouth.

The new service began on Monday 17 September and was heralded in by the North Bristol Wellbeing Choir, alongside First Great Western General Manager for the Central Region Steve Tyler; the Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways; Cllr Tim Kent, Executive Member for Transport at Bristol City Council and Cllr Brian Allinson, Chair of the West of England Partnership. Following speeches, Cllr Tim Kent waved the first of the new services out at 21.37.

Passenger numbers on the line rose by 90.3% between 2007 and 2011.

First Great Western Mark Hopwood said: 
“First Great Western has worked hard with Bristol City Council and the Severnside Community Rail Partnership to improve and promote services on this popular route through Bristol. The huge increase in passenger numbers has encouraged us to put on this additional return train, providing a more frequent evening service.

“This latest improvement comes on top of the extra seats that we provided on many trains earlier this year, and will make the line much more useful for evening journeys.”

Julie Boston, co-ordinator for Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways said: 
“We are delighted with the extra trains. The Severn Beach line has gone from strength to strength and this can only help. Our members have told us for some time that they needed later trains and it is great to see they are now being added to the timetable.”

Operating each weekday and on Saturday evenings.