the wooden level crossing gates were replaced by automatic lifting barriers. By 1974, service had reduced to 19 trains per day in each direction, with no Sunday services to Severn Beach. British Rail was split into business-led sectors in the 1980s, at which time operations at Avonmouth passed to Regional Railways. At this time, all trains ran to Severn Beach, but the service pattern was irregular. This changed in 1995 when an hourly timetable was introduced for peak times, but northbound services were terminated at Avonmouth. 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. Following action by Friends of Severn Beach Railway and a string of protests, services had increased to 10 per day in each direction by 2005, with Bristol City Council providing a subsidy to Wessex Trains. The Wessex franchise was amalgamated with the Great Western franchise into the Greater Western franchise from 2006, and responsibility passed to First Great Western, a subsidiary company of FirstGroup, subsequently rebranded as Great Western Railway in 2015. A minimum service requirement was written into the franchise agreement, ensuring an hourly service along the line, and this has since been increased to three trains every two hours (25 trains per day). Sunday services to Severn Beach were restored in 2010. The final remaining station building, the old parcels office, was demolished in 2015. Local rail campaigners, including Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways and MP Charlotte Leslie, petitioned to prevent the demolition, however Network Rail stated that the cost of restoration was too high and that it had become a safety risk. Future First Great Western declined a contractual option to continue the Greater Western passenger franchise (of which services at Avonmouth are a part) beyond 2013, citing a desire for a longer-term contract due to the impending upgrade to the Great Western Main Line. The franchise was put out to tender, but the process was halted and later scrapped due to the fallout from the collapse of the InterCity West Coast franchise competition. A two-year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013, and subsequently extended until March 2019. With the coming upgrade to the Great Western Main Line, the main line from London to Bristol is due to be electrified by 2016. However, the electrification will not extend beyond