Does Bristol Temple Meads deserve to be compared to Poundland?

Bristol Temple Meads made national headlines for all the wrong reasons recently after it was described as the “Poundland of stations”.

The national bargain basement chain hit out at the comments made by transport campaigner Dave Redgewell, saying in a Tweet: “When we sell something for £1, it’s not five times the price if you buy it before 9.30am or after 4.30pm.”

Station owners Network Rail in turn responded to say rail service in the West is the best it’s been for years.

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Read more: Poundland take offence at Temple Meads being compared to Poundland

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The light-hearted exchange served to highlight frustrations with the pace of progress at the Grade 1-listed station, which is due to undergo a multi-million-pound transformation and sits at the heart of the major Temple Quarter Regeneration project.

I spent a day as a passenger in and around Temple Meads to experience the best and worst of train travel in the city.

It’s just before 8am on a sunny Wednesday morning and Temple Meads is a beacon of calm. Rainbow Pride flags flutter in the breeze and the tantalising scent of baked goods fills the air from Hart’s Bakery below.

Improvements are proposed to cope with growing passenger numbers at Temple Meads

Orderly queues have formed at the ticket machines inside the historic transport hub and police officers watch on as people move as one down the steps to the subway.

Here, the distinct smell of pasties welcomes visitors to the West and rules are abandoned as commuters rush up the down-only steps to make their morning train.

Passengers sit, heads down, phones out as the train pulls out of Temple Meads in silence. It’s a short journey through the city suburbs to Stapleton Road, where a vibrant mural depicts the neighbourhood’s diverse community.

Stapleton Road Station only has ramp access to one platform

A dad with a pushchair makes his way down the new ramp to join commuters waiting patiently on the platform.

The station that was once Bristol’s second biggest only has ramp access to one platform only, leaving wheelchair users and parents with buggies at the other side no option but to take the road from Belmont Street, onto Stapleton Road and round.

It’s the same story with many of the city’s suburban stations.

The train pulls in and the dad needs assistance to lift the pushchair up the steep step into the carriage, where it’s standing room only back to Temple Meads. The ticket officer greets new passengers with a cheery smile as she patiently threads her way through the throngs of people in the hot, sweaty carriage to issue and check tickets.

Some of the new traffic barriers at Bristol Temple Meads

Back at Temple Meads, all is calm again by mid-morning and a guy in a bright orange tabard is hard at work mopping the platform edges.

Outside, in front of the station, a florist is busy perfecting bouquets at her stall in the corner and a scattering of people are sat on the benches before the cobbled taxi ranks.

“Where you off to?” Enquires a fellow traveller.

Gesturing at the many passengers engrossed in their mobile phones, he continues: “You hear all this talk of mental health and it’s no wonder. People are just always on their phones.

“People never say hi to each other anymore or strike up a conversation.”

On hearing of plans to increase the frequency of trains to Severn Beach and re-open services to Portishead and the Henbury spur line, he agrees that the improvements are much needed.

A journey down the Severn Beach line for £3 day return offers a prime opportunity to see Bristol by rail, as the train stops at stations along the way – each one individually decorated.

There are plans to increase the number of trains running to Severn Beach

Following a mass exodus at Clifton Down, there’s only a handful of people left on the train out to Severn Beach, including a man heading there in search of work and a couple with bikes ready to explore the city’s rural outskirts.

With a two-hour wait before the next train back to Temple Meads, there’s plenty of time to explore and sample the wares of the popular Shirley’s Café.

It’s many of the same passengers heading back on the return. The man hoping for a job has a smile on his face after a successful interview and is marvelling at the quiet, wild surrounds just a short journey from the city centre.

These soon turn more industrial as we head through Avonmouth and onwards.

Views from Severn Beach

A pit stop in Bonapartes restaurant on the platform would have been best avoided. Rated one of Bristol’s worst-rated restaurants on TripAdvisor, the bar’s impressive facade is marred with grubby marks, sticky tables and neglect, while service is perfunctory and prices high.

The Rest Café by the airport bus transfer stop (one of the few parts of Brunel’s original building still in use), in contrast, offers a warm welcome and hearty menu of British dishes.

Having finally made his way past throngs of passengers outside, a man gratefully drops his backpack on a nearby seat and orders sausage and chips.

The café has been at the station for some 30 years and is a mini hub in its own right. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any pliers, have you?” asks a worker in an orange tabard, striding up to the small counter.

“I should have some somewhere,” comes the reply, as the woman in the kitchen rummages in a cupboard and produces a pair.

“Thanks – I’ll have them back in about 20minutes.”

Vicky Hosken works in The Rest Cafe

The British Transport Police have headquarters the other side of the station’s main entrance and taxi drivers in their distinct Bristol Blue-coloured vehicles are a constant presence at the front of the station.

Back inside, things are getting busy again as rush hour approaches. The 4.22pm train to Bath is standing room only and the air con isn’t working.

One lady gets on with a walking stick and people shuffle out of the way as best they can, making room so she can sink into a seat. Passengers grab at tickets and Metros – anything to fan themselves ineffectually, as two people try in vain to open one of the windows.

An £8.10 return is feeling like a high price to pay for this level of discomfort. The only blessing being that the journey is a short one.

Back at Temple Meads for 5.30pm and the various outlets do a fast trade in coffees and snacks, while a small queue has built up outside the ladies’ toilet and newly-installed water fountain. The new ticket barriers are in operation to disperse the crowds.

The busy station represents the best and worst of society, as some passengers take the time to help those who are slow or struggling, while others rush by impatiently to reach their next destination.

Bristol Temple Meads was branded the ‘Poundland of stations’. Photo by Jack Joseph

Dave Redgewell says accessibility is an issue at many of Bristol’s stations

‘We need a modern European station’

Dave Redgewell used to manage high speed rail networks across the country. He is now a transport campaigner and representative for passengers and equalities on the council-run Bristol Transport Board.

“This is gateway to the West and it’s a beautiful station,” he tells me, meeting in The Rest Café.

“But it’s almost run like a museum and it’s not a museum, it’s a working station and it should represent a modern European city.”

Dave says that problems with accessibility exist across Bristol’s stations.

Parson Street station has no disabled access despite being the closest to Ashton Gate Stadium, and Lawrence Hill, Stapleton Road and Weston-super-Mare are among those with limited access.

He says lift at Temple Meads are badly in need of updating and the station still only has very basic disabled toilets, no automatic doors and cobbles, which make it difficult for wheelchair users and pushchairs.

“We have got a long way to go,” he says. “It’s not right that in 2019, we have to compete for funds for disabled access.”

Dave adds: “The good thing about this station is we have an excellent team of staff and a good disability access team.”

The transport campaigner believes there is huge scope for Temple Meads to be transformed. He says passengers are crying out for facilities at Bristol Temple Meads and argues there needs to be one clear voice making the case for investment in the South West.

Network Rail was contacted to be given opportunity to respond to comments about accessibility.

The station is one of the oldest surviving railway terminus buildings in the world

Looking at the past, present and future of Bristol Temple Meads:

The Grade I-listed building, operated by Network Rail, first opened in 1840 and is one of the oldest surviving railway terminus buildings in the world and one of the last remaining unimproved mainline train stations in the UK.

Around ten million passengers pass through a year and this is expected to rise to more than 22million by 2030.

Network Rail installed two new ticket barriers in October 2018 in a bid to ease congestion, with a further £40m investment to renovate the station’s historic roof planned for the next five years.

The West of England Combined Authority has earmarked £26.6m for major renovation works, which will create a new eastern entrance to the station into Temple Quarter.

Main photo by Jack Joseph

Read more: ‘A transformed Temple Meads will finally give us a railway station fir for the 21st century’