New Passage

New Passage Pier was the original terminus of the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway, located on the south bank of the River Severn at New Passage, South Gloucestershire, England. At New Passage, passengers would disembark from trains and use a boat across the Severn. New Passage had been the site of a ferry from England to Wales including the use by mail and passenger coaches between Bristol and to Portskewett in south Wales. In 1825 the New Passage Association formed, using the 30-ton steamboat "St Pierre". However, the sponsorship by the Dukes of Beaufort of the Aust route, with faster boats and a pier, meant that by 1830 mail coaches were diverted there, and the New Passage declined.Construction of the new railway started in 1858 and the single-track 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge line opened from South Wales Junction, half a mile east of Bristol Temple Meads, as far as the landward end of New Passage Pier on 8 September 1863, a distance of 11 miles (18 km). The distance by rail between Bristol and Cardiff was reduced from 94 miles (151 km) to 38 miles (61 km). The Bristol and South Wales Union Railway built new piers for the ferry, that at New Passage being 546 yards (499 m) long.A steam ferry, the Saint Pierre had been built by Pride and Williams for the New Passage crossing in 1825 and it worked there until 1831. The B&SWUR bought a new steamer, the Gem in 1863 but it proved unsuitable and was soon replaced by the Relief. John Bland, a carrier and shareholder in the railway, was contracted to operate the ferry. The next vessel purchased was the Dragon Fly, this had been used by the contractors to build the piers but was too small to work as the ferry. Instead, two paddle tugs, the Ajax and the Atlas were hired in to cover for the Relief.A new paddle steamer arrived in June 1864, named Christopher Thomas after the chairman of the B&SWUR, it had been built for the company by Henderson, Coulborn and Company at Renfrew in Scotland. A slightly larger vessel named the Chepstow arrived from the same shipyard on 11 February 1875. These two continued in service until the Severn Tunnel was opened in 1886. They were sold to WS Ogden at Cardiff in 1880, the Chepstow being renamed the Rover. The funnels were generally painted black with a red band.The station became redundant in 1886 following construction of the Severn Tunnel, and was closed. The pier was demolished by 1888. A plaque now marks the site, and although the building of new piling for flood defences and new concrete castings mean there is little to no trace of the railway on the land side, at low water, some remains of wooden piling can be seen below the plaque site.

New Passage Halt railway station served the hamlet of New Passage, South Gloucestershire, England from 1928 to 1964 on the Severn Beach line.

Redwick is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is part of the parish of Pilning and Severn Beach, and is bounded by the River Severn to the north and the Chessell Pill Rhine to the east. To the south is the village of Pilning, at the end of Redwick Road near Pilning Stores and the village war memorial. Immediately to the west, the South Wales Main Line railway enters the Severn Tunnel. Historically Redwick was, with Northwick, a tything of the parish of Henbury. The village was first mentioned in 955 under the name Hreodwican, meaning "place of reeds". The village is also mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086.

Severn Beach railway station serves the village of Severn Beach, England. The station is the terminus of the Severn Beach Line. This station is 13.5 miles (21.7 km) north west from Bristol Temple Meads on the Severn Beach Line. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who are also the sole provider of trains serving the station.

Severn Beach is a village on the Severn Estuary in South Gloucestershire, England. The eastern portal of the Severn Tunnel is on the outskirts of the village. The Severn footpath – on the sea wall – is part of the Severn Way that leads from Gloucester, Slimbridge and the Second Severn Crossing. Extensive sea defences have been constructed and this provides a popular walkway along its length. Originally, the Severn Way finished at Severn Beach, but it has been extended to Bristol.The village is part of the Filton and Bradley Stoke Parliamentary constituency and is represented by the Conservative MP, Jack Lopresti.

Cross Hands Halt railway station served Pilning, South Gloucestershire, England from 1928 to 1964 on the Severn Beach Line.

Pilning is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, close to Redwick and Severn Beach. Pilning is close to the M4, M49 and A403 roads, and has the South Wales Main Line railway running through it, with a minor station.The civil parish is Pilning and Severn Beach. The population at the 2011 census was 3,647. An electoral ward exists in the same name.Because of the close proximity of the River Severn and the English Stones section of the river bed, Pilning has found itself the ideal place to make both a substantial railway tunnel and motorway bridge. The Severn Tunnel opened in 1885 and the Second Severn Crossing opened in 1996.

The A403 is a main road linking Bristol with the Severn Estuary. It runs from junction 1 of the M48 at Aust to the docks at Avonmouth. After the Severn Bridge was opened in 1966, the A403 was constructed in 1969 and 1970 to provide a direct route between the M4 motorway and Avonmouth. It is an important route for the local industries, allowing easy access between Wales and this part of England. It was financed by Gloucestershire County Council with a £387,000 grant from the Ministry of Transport and was initially known as the Avonmouth Aust Coast Road.

Northwick is a hamlet in South Gloucestershire, England, first mentioned in 955.The hamlet lies on the River Severn, between Pilning and Aust. It was part of the tything of Northwick with Redwick in the ancient parish of Henbury. It is now in the parish of Pilning and Severn Beach. The church of St Thomas was declared redundant in 1971.

The English Stones are a rocky outcrop in the Severn Estuary between Caldicot, Monmouthshire, and Severn Beach, South Gloucestershire. Because the area is exposed at low tide, and is a rare spot of solid land in the highly tidal estuary, it has long been considered a good location to build barrages, dams or bridges. In the 1990s the construction of the Second Severn Crossing made use of the English Stones as a foundation for significant sections of the bridge.

The Severn Tunnel (Welsh: Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) between 1873 and 1886 for the purpose of dramatically shortening the journey times of their trains, passenger and goods alike, between South Wales and Western England. It has often been regarded as the crowning achievement of GWR's chief engineer Sir John Hawkshaw.Prior to the tunnel's construction, lengthy detours were necessary for all traffic between South Wales and Western England, which either used ship or a lengthy diversion upriver via Gloucester. Recognising the value of such a tunnel, the GWR sought its development, tasking Hawkshaw with its design and later contracting the civil engineer Thomas A. Walker to undertake its construction, which commenced in March 1873. Work proceeded smoothly until October 1879, at which point significant flooding of the tunnel occurred from what is now known as “The Great Spring”. Through strenuous and innovative efforts, the flooding was contained and work was able to continue, albeit with a great emphasis on drainage. Structurally completed during 1885, the first passenger train was run through the tunnel on 1 December 1886, nearly 14 years after the commencement of work. Following its opening, the tunnel quickly formed a key element of the main trunk railway line between southern England and South Wales. Amongst other services, the GWR operated a car shuttle train service through the tunnel for many decades. However, the tunnel has also presented especially difficult conditions, both operationally and in terms of infrastructure and structural maintenance. On average, around 50 million litres of water per day infiltrates the tunnel, necessitating the permanent operation of several large pumping engines. Originally, during much of the steam era, a large number of pilot and banking locomotives were required to assist heavy trains traverse the challenging gradients of the tunnel, which were deployed from nearby marshalling yards. The tunnel is 7,008 m (4.355 mi) long, although only 3,621 m (2.250 mi) of its length are under the river. It was the longest underwater tunnel in the world until 1987 and, for more than 100 years, it was the longest mainline railway tunnel within the UK. It was finally exceeded in this capacity during 2007 with the opening of the two major tunnels of High Speed 1, forming a part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. In 2016, overhead line equipment (OHLE) was installed in the tunnel to allow the passage of electric traction; this work was undertaken as one element of the wider 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western main line.

Seabank Power Station is a 1,140 MW gas-fired power station at Hallen Marsh in Bristol, England. It is situated beside the A403 road and Severn Estuary, just north of Avonmouth and south of Severn Beach, close to the boundary with South Gloucestershire. It is next to the former Terra Nitrogen Severnside fertiliser works, which was closed by Growhow UK in January 2008.The £435 million plant is run as Seabank Power Ltd. The initial partners in the company were BG Group (former part of British Gas) and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), however in 2010 BG Group, as part of its reorganisation sold its 50% share of the plant to Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited The company is now owned by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited, and SSE. It was built by Siemens Power Generation and initially opened in 2000. It was built in two parts, with Seabank 1 (755 MW) started in January 1996 and completed in March 2000. Seabank 2 (385 MW) was started in January 1999 and was completed in January 2001. The station has a number of step up transformers that allow connection to the National Grid high voltage electricity transmission system via the Seabank 400 kV GIS substation. The power plant provides enough electricity for approximately 1.6 million people.Seabank is a Combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) type power station that runs on natural gas. The Gas is supplied to the station via the company's own 74-bar 42-inch (1,100 mm) pipeline that runs from a gas compressor station near Abson in Pucklechurch, Bristol through South Gloucestershire to the station. The station can also utilise the local gas connection, that was used to connect the previous Seabank Naptha/Gas Cracking station that occupied the site prior to the power station. The section first built consists of two Siemens V94.3A gas turbines with two heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) and a steam turbine. The next built section consists of one V94.3A gas turbine, an HRSG and a steam turbine. It has a 55% thermal efficiency. The HRSGs were built by Standard Fasel Lentjes (known as SFL and now owned by NEM Energy) and Stork Power Services, both Dutch companies.