Fishponds railway station was a station in Fishponds, Bristol, and was a victim of Dr Beeching's cuts in the 1960s.
Fishponds station was just south of where the supermarket car park is today. The railway line was built in 1835 for transport of coal from Coalpit Heath to industry in the centre of Bristol. The station, named Stapleton Halt, was opened on 1 April 1866, and was part of the Bristol to Birmingham line operated by the Midland Railway. The station was renamed Fishponds on 1 July 1867, and had two platforms plus a shunting line constructed in 1905 for the Avonside Locomotive Works to move their newly built locomotives onto the main line.
The line was closed in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. Stopping passenger services on the Bristol to Gloucester line ceased on 4 January 1965; the station closed to goods traffic on 31 December 1965. However, trains continued between Bristol and Bath Green Park until 7 March 1966. The signal box remained open until 12 April 1968, when most of the station buildings were demolished. The line through the station was due to close on 3 January 1970, but a landslip at nearby Staple Hill led to its closure a week early. The tracks were later removed. The line was converted into the Bristol & Bath Railway Path which was completed in 1986, though the trail through the Fishponds station site deviates from the original rail line because of the roads associated with a supermarket on adjoining land.
There are still remains of the station including the stairs to the footbridge on the Bristol side. The line was converted into the Bristol & Bath Railway Path which was completed in 1986, though the trail through the Fishponds station site deviates from the original rail line because of the roads associated with a supermarket on adjoining land.
