Somerset Public Transport

Rail Services

Overview

The Somerset Coast is served by one main line, as well as the heritage West Somerset railway. The North Somerset coast is poorly served by rail stations although there are trains to Bristol from where bus services serve most coastal towns between Weston-super-Mare and Pill. There are also rail stations at Worle, Weston-super-Mare and Bridgwater which are either on or close to walks on the Somerset Coast. Further west the coast can be reached by train from Taunton and then a bus to Minehead. The West Somerset heritage railway also has stations at Minehead and Dunset which can be used to reach the coast.

Coastal Stations

The following table lists the rail stations that are useful for accessing the Somerset coast. For the timetables, see the links in the table below.

Station	Coast Path Access	Relevant Walk(s)	Line and Timetable	Train Operator(s)	Current Departures	Current Arrivals
Bristol Temple Meads	Not on the coast, but the principal station for Bristol from where buses leave for parts of the Gloucestershire and North Somerset coast.	Aust to Severn Tunnel Junction Aust to Pill Pill to Portishead	The Severn Beach Line Wessex Main Line Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare Great Western Mainline Scotland, North East & Manchester to the South West and South Coast Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare and Exeter	Great Western Railway Cross Country Trains South West Trains	Bristol Temple Meads	Bristol Temple Meads
Worle	Two walks start or end at this station.	Worle to Portishead Worle to Uphill	Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare	Great Western Railway	Worle	Worle
Weston-super-Mare	The station is around 5 minutes from the sea front and local buses from here serve the start or end points of several walks.	Worle to Uphill Steep Holm to Uphill to Brean Brean to Pawlett	Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare Scotland, North East & Manchester to the South West and South Coast Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare and Exeter	Great Western Railway Cross Country Trains	Weston-super-Mare	Weston-super-Mare
Highbridge and Burnham	This walk pases within around 300 metres of the railway station. In addition the bus route to the start and end of this walk passes close to the station.	Brean to Pawlett	Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare and Exeter	Great Western Railway	Highbridge and Burnham	Highbridge and Burnham
Bridgwater	Walk passes through the town (the station is around 10 minutes walk away) and buses to these walks run close to the station.	Brean to Pawlett Combwich to Pawlett	Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare and Exeter	Great Western Railway	Bridgwater	Bridgwater
Taunton	Buses from Taunton serve the coast between Minehead and Weston-super-Mare	Brean to Pawlett Watchet to Minehead Minehead to Porlock Lynmouth to Porlock	Cardiff and Bristol to Weston-super-Mare and Exeter Scotland, North East & Manchester to the South West and South Coast	Great Western Railway Cross Country Trains	Taunton	Taunton
Barnstaple	On the south west coast path. Buses connect Barnstaple with most towns on the coast path between Lynmouth and Hartland.	Lynmouth to Porlock	The Tarka Line	Great Western Railway	Barnstaple	Barnstaple

Bus Services

The principal bus services serving the Somerset coast can be found in the table below. As times and routes can change frequently it is suggested that you check with Traveline before travelling.

Route Number	Operator	Relevant Walk(s)	Places Served	Approximate Daytime Frequency
Route Number	Operator	Relevant Walk(s)	Places Served	Mon-Fri	Sat	Sun
X4	First Bristol, Bath and West	Aust to Pill Pill to Portishead Worle to Portishead	Bristol Bus Station, Abbots Leigh, Pill, Sheepway, Portishead	Every 30 Minutes	Every 30 Minutes	Hourly
X3	First Bristol, Bath and West	Pill to Portishead Worle to Portishead	Bristol Bus Station, Abbots Leigh, Sheepway, Portishead Dock, Portishead	Every 30 Minutes	Every 30 Minutes	Hourly
X1/X1A	First Bristol, Bath and West	Worle to Portishead Worle to Uphill Steep Holm to	Bristol Bus Station, Backwell, Cleeve, Congresbury, Worle, Weston-super-Mare	Every 15 minutes	Every 15 minutes	Every 30 Minutes
X5	First Bristol, Bath and West	Worle to Portishead Worle to Uphill Steep Holm to	University of West of England (UWE), Bristol Parkway Station, Cribbs Causeway, Portishead, Weston-in-Gordano, Clevedon, Worle, Weston-super-Mare	Hourly	Hourly	Once Every 2 hours
5, 105	Crosville Motor Services	Worle to Uphill Worle to Portishead Steep Holm to Uphill to Brean	Worle, Weston-super-Mare, Uphill	Every 30 Minutes	Every 30 Minutes	No service
20	First Bristol, Bath and West	Uphill to Brean Worle to Uphill Steep Holm to Brean to Pawlett	Weston-super-Mare, Uphill, Brean, Lympsham, Berrow, Burnham-on-Sea	Hourly Winter, Every 30 minutes Summer	Hourly Winter, Every 30 minutes Summer	Summer only, hourly
21	The Buses of Somerset	Brean to Pawlett Combwich to Pawlett	Burnham-on-Sea, Highbridge, Huntspill, Pawlett, Dunball, Bridgwater, North Petherton, Monkton Heathfield, Taunton	Hourly	Hourly	Hourly
14	The Buses of Somerset	Combwich to Pawlett Stogursey to Combwich Stogursey to Watchet	Bridgwater, Wembdon, Cannington, Combwich, Stockland Bristol, Stogursey, Burton, Shurton	One bus per day each way, college days only	No service	No service
23B	Hatch Green Coaches	Stogursey to Combwich Stogursey to Watchet	Wiliton, Watchet, Kilve, Stogursey, Nether Stowey, Hawkridge, Buncombe, Yarford, Fulford, Kingston St Mary, Taunton	One bus per day (this direction only)	No service	No service
28	The Buses of Somerset	Stogursey to Watchet Watchet to Minehead Minehead to Porlock Lynmouth to Porlock	Minehead, Dunster, Washford, Watchet, Williton, Bicknoller, Seven Ash, Bishops Lydeard, Staplegrove, Taunton	Every 30 Minutes	Every 30 Minutes	Hourly
10	The Buses of Somerset	Watchet to Minehead Minehead to Porlock Lynmouth to Porlock	Minehead, Porlock, Porlock Weir	5 buses per day	No service	No service
300	Filers Travel	Lynmouth to Porlock	Minehead, Porlock, Lynmouth	No service	No service	2 daily during peak summer only

Boat Services

To visit Steep Holm Island you need to visit Steep Holm Sailings to select a date of a sailing, then book via Steep Holm Bookings to book. Trips are weather dependant and normally operated using RIB boats so have limited luggage space.

By Air

The nearest airports are Bristol Airport and Exeter Airport. Both airports have direct flights from many European cities, although there are few long haul routes.

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