The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth. The Wessex Main Line intersects the Reading to Taunton Line at Westbury and the West of England Main Line at Salisbury.
Reading West railway station serves West Reading, Berkshire, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west from the town's main retail and commercial areas. The station is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway. It is 36 miles 75 chains down the line from the zero point at London Paddington.
Midgham railway station, formerly known as Woolhampton railway station, is a railway station in the English county of Berkshire. It is located in the village of Woolhampton, but takes its current name from the village of Midgham that lies some 2 miles (3.2 km) away.
Thatcham railway station serves the market town of Thatcham in Berkshire, England. It is 49 miles 45 chains measured from the zero point at London Paddington. It is served by Great Western Railway local services between Reading and Newbury and Bedwyn.
Kintbury railway station serves the village of Kintbury in Berkshire, England. It is situated on the Reading to Taunton Line, 58 miles 38 chains from London Paddington.
Bedwyn railway station serves the village of Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. It is 66 miles 33 chains from the zero point at London Paddington. Along with Pewsey station, it serves the market town of Marlborough which is 6 miles (10 km) away. A bus from the town connects with most trains on Mondays to Saturdays.
Pewsey railway station serves the large village of Pewsey in the county of Wiltshire, England. The station is on the Berks and Hants line, 75 miles 26 chains measured from the zero point at London Paddington, and served by intercity trains operated by Great Western Railway between London and the West Country. The average journey time to Paddington from Pewsey is just over an hour. Services between Pewsey and Bedwyn, the next station up the line, are infrequent, most eastbound services next calling at Hungerford, Newbury or Reading instead. This is because Bedwyn was the most westerly point of the Network SouthEast on this line, while Pewsey was an InterCity station.
The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Midlands and North of England to the port, but they ran out of funds to complete the line to Southampton. The intended heavy through traffic never materialised, and the line was dependent on larger railways—the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway—for support, which was not freely given. The line opened in two stages, in 1882 and 1885.
The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dorset. It opened the first part of the network but found it impossible to raise further money and sold its line to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1850.
The Devizes branch line was a railway line from Holt Junction to Patney and Chirton, in Wiltshire, England. It was named after Devizes, the largest town on the line. The branch was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1857, and from 1862 when the Reading-Hungerford line reached Devizes it became part of the shortest route from London to the West Country. Those services were re-routed in 1900, and the line closed in 1966.
Southcote Junction is a railway junction in the English town of Reading. It is the point where the Reading to Basingstoke line diverges from the Reading to Taunton line, and is situated between the Reading suburbs of Southcote and Coley Park and some 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the south of Reading West station. A second adjacent junction, the Coley Branch Junction, formerly existed a few metres to the north where the Coley branch line diverged.
This article describes the history and operation of the railway routes west of Salisbury built by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and allied companies, which ultimately became part of the Southern Railway in the United Kingdom. Salisbury forms a natural boundary between the Southern Railway core routes in the counties surrounding London, and the long route connecting with the Devon and Cornwall lines.
The Reading–Basingstoke line is a railway link between the South West Main Line and the Great Western Main Line, constructed by the Great Western Railway between 1846 and 1848. The line is served by GWR local services between Reading and Basingstoke, stopping at the intermediate stations of Reading West, Reading Green Park, Mortimer and Bramley. The line is also an important through route for longer distance passenger and freight services: CrossCountry services from Bournemouth and Southampton to Birmingham and the North of England and freight trains between the Port of Southampton and the Midlands use the line. South Western Railway weekend workings also operate between Reading and Salisbury.
Marlborough railway stations refers to the two railway stations which served Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, until 1964.
The Salisbury branch line of the Great Western Railway from Westbury to Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, was completed in 1856. Most of the smaller stations were closed in 1955 but the line remains in use as part of the Wessex Main Line.
The Stert and Westbury Railway was opened by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900 in Wiltshire, England. It shortened the distance between London Paddington station and Weymouth, and since 1906 has also formed part of the Reading to Taunton line for a shorter journey from London to Penzance.
Devizes railway station was the railway station serving Devizes in Wiltshire, England between 1857 and 1966. The station was on the Devizes branch line, between Pans Lane Halt and Bromham & Rowde.
Holt Junction was a railway station which served the village of Holt, Wiltshire, England between 1861 and 1966. It stood on the Wessex Main Line at its junction with the western end of the Devizes branch.
Savernake Low Level railway station was a station on the Berks and Hants Extension Railway, near the village of Burbage in Wiltshire, England. It was open from 1862 until 1966.
The Reading–Taunton line is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line from which it diverges at Reading railway station. It runs to Cogload Junction where it joins the Bristol to Exeter and Penzance line.
