Planning approval for new lift at Lawrence Hill station

Plans to install a new lift at Lawrence Hill railway station have received planning permission from Bristol City Council.

A lift and improved stairs will be added to platform 2, making the station, which first opened in 1863, step-free for the first time and fully accessible to everyone.

The lift will be installed on the southbound platform heading towards Bristol Temple Meads which currently only has steps. Platform 1 has step-free access through the neighbouring Lidl car park.

The project is set to be funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, subject to final business case approval.

 

Image - Lawrence Hill

Helen Godwin, the Mayor of the West of England, said: 

“For too many years, Lawrence Hill train station has not been fully accessible – leaving parents struggling on the stairs with prams and excluding many Disabled and older people from train travel.

“We want all of our stations to be fully accessible, so it’s great that our plans have now been approved to install a new lift to make Lawrence Hill step-free.

“While we continue building new stations in this new chapter for the West, and plan for how best to invest some of the record £752 million for transport secured at the Spending Review to increase the frequency of services across our suburban network, our region’s older stations need investment.”

Lawrence Hill is on the Severn Beach Line and over 350,000 people use the station each year. While the lift is being fitted, the current steps on platform 2 will be demolished and a temporary footbridge from platform 1 will be installed.

Improving accessibility at the station is part of the wider £400 million rail upgrade across the West, as well as creating new stations and increasing train services to better connect communities.

Two new railway stations have opened in the region since 2023, Portway Park & Ride and Ashley Down. Five more will be built in the coming years: Charfield, Henbury, North Filton, Pill, and Portishead.