It is, however, colourfully decorated with a mural, painted as a collaborative effort between the Severnside Community Rail Partnership and local schools.

[8][21]: 15  It ran from Sneyd Park Junction in the Avon Gorge via Clifton Down station to Ashley Hill Junction, east of Montpelier, from which the Great Western and Midland lines diverged – the Great Western heading south, joining the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway towards Bristol Temple Meads, the Midland heading east towards Mangotsfield.

The line was built at 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge, and was initially managed by the Clifton Extension Railway Joint Committee.

The original station buildings were built from pennant stone, a common material in the Bristol area, and partly obtained from the digging of a cutting near Clifton Down.

The station master had lodgings above the waiting rooms on the southern platform, which had separate ticket windows for Midland and Great Western services.

A signal box with 16 levers was located at the west end of the southern platform, controlling the yard and crossover points on the main line.

There was some debate about whether the station should be called "Montpelier" or "Montpellier", but the joint railway committee overseeing the line ruled in favour of the former in 1888.

The committee agreed to extend the canopy on the northern platform, and to improve the waiting rooms, but refused to build a new booking office.

The Great Western provided ten services per day between Clifton Down and Bristol Temple Meads, the city's major station, where passengers could change for trains to London, Exeter and Wales, among others.

[21] The Clifton Down Tunnel, the final link to the Bristol Port Railway and Pier, was opened in 1877, initially allowing freight trains to reach Avonmouth Docks.

[8] The Hotwells section of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier closed in 1922, so to compensate an additional six trains were provided to Avonmouth, with four back.

[22]: 19  From 1924, many trains to Avonmouth were extended to Severn Beach, a growing seaside resort, and some on to Pilning, then back to Temple Meads via Patchway.

A year later in 1963, the Beeching report suggested the complete withdrawal of services along the line, but ultimately only those beyond Severn Beach or via Henbury were withdrawn.

[21]: 42 When the railway was privatised in 1997, local services were franchised to Wales & West, which was succeeded by Wessex Trains, an arm of National Express, in 2001.

[24][25] Following action by Friends of Severn Beach Railway (FOSBR) and a string of protests, services had increased to 10 per day in each direction by 2005,[8] with Bristol City Council providing a subsidy to Wessex Trains.

[23] In 2004, the Severnside Community Rail Partnership was formed, covering the Severn Beach Line and a network of routes radiating from Bristol.

First Great Western offered a £500 reward for identifying the persons responsible, and stated they planned to install CCTV cameras.

[34] Students from Fairfield High School repainted the mural with help from professional graffiti artist Richard Minchin.

[12][36] Customer help points with next train information screens were installed during 2008/09, paid for by money from the Department for Transport's "Access for All" fund and local councils.

[2][38][39] A large number of trees north of the station, which had provided noise mitigation and stabilised the embankment, were felled in 2018 by local residents, without permission from Network Rail.

[53][54][55] Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West, questioned whether electrification could continue to Montpelier and the rest of the Severn Beach Line.

[56] The group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification of the entire Severn Beach Line.

[60][61] The scheme was given the go-ahead in July 2012 as part of the City Deal, whereby local councils would be given greater control over money by the government.

[62] There are also calls for the reopening of the Henbury Loop Line, which could allow a direct service from Montpelier to Bristol Parkway via Avonmouth.