Bristol and Gloucester Railway

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The Bristol and Gloucester Railway opened in 1844 between Bristol and Gloucester, meeting the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. It is now part of the main line from the North-East of England through Derby and Birmingham to the South-West.

In the early nineteenth century, Bristol was an important port. In 1824 a meeting was held at the White Lion Inn in Bristol to discuss the idea of a railway to be known as the Bristol, Northern and Western Railway. This was the period around the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, when many ambitious schemes were being floated, between London and Bristol and Birmingham and also the East Midlands.

Although there was a great deal of initial enthusiasm, there were technical difficulties and a financial crisis, and the plans were never carried through. Towards the end of the decade the country was in an economic recession, but two horse-drawn tramways were built, the Avon and Gloucestershire and the Bristol and Gloucestershire.

In spite of the problems, interest in Bristol remained high. Through the 1830s lines were in active construction, not only the Birmingham and Gloucester, but others from Birmingham through the Midlands to Yorkshire. A railway would give access to the coal and minerals - and the manufactured riches - of the North.

In 1839 the Bristol and Gloucester Railway Bill was passed by Parliament. At Gloucester it formed a junction with the broad gauge Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway running into the town on mixed gauge tracks. The Bristol and Gloucester Railway had itself been built as broad gauge, but was narrowed to standard gauge and the rolling stock sold to Thomas Brassey for use on the North Devon Railway.

In 1844 the Bristol and Gloucester merged with Birmingham and Gloucester Railway to form the short-lived Birmingham and Bristol Railway (q.v.) , becoming a pawn in railway politics between the Midland Railway and the Great Western Railway.