Nov 2024
Severnside Community Rail Partnership (CRP) marked a significant milestone on Wednesday, 20th November 2024, celebrating our 20th anniversary at the historic Engine Shed in Bristol. Anyone who has travelled by train on routes radiating from Bristol Temple Meads station is likely to have seen the impact of the Partnership’s work, whether its the planters tended by volunteers or an eye catching mural brightening up a local station.
Since its inception in 2004, Severnside CRP has worked tirelessly to foster strong relationships with rail operators, local authorities, and community groups, playing a pivotal role in advocating for improved rail services, easier access to the rail network, developing station improvements, and finding innovative ways to promote rail travel as a sustainable alternative to car journeys. Severnside CRP runs the Days Out By Train scheme to help people overcome barriers to rail travel, and has a team of qualified teachers delivering a rail education programme, known as Platform, offering free of charge workshops and rail trips to local schools. In less than 3 years, Platform has provided rail safety workshops to over 15,000 young people. Earlier this year, a disused room at Bridgwater station was converted into a community hub and is used regularly by a wide range of local groups.
It is widely acknowledged that when the Partnership was formed, many local branch lines, including Bristol’s Severn Beach branch, were at risk of closure. The Community Rail movement was instrumental in breathing new life back into local lines, the Severn Beach, which served under 350,000 passenger journeys in 2004, line now carries over a million passengers per year
The anniversary also marked Partnership’s founder and Chairman Keith Walton MBE, handing over the leadership of the organisation. GWR’s Business Assurance Director, Joe Graham presented Keith with the name plaque from the Walton Castle high speed train in recognition of his exceptional service. Fellow founder members Antonia Parker-Jones and James White were also thanked for their long-term support and commitment to making the Partnership a success.
Keith Walton MBE receives recognition from GWR’s Business Assurance Director Joe Graham
Guests enjoyed refreshments served by Strawberry Line Cafe
