Swindon Town | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | Swindon, Swindon England |
Platforms | 2 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway |
Pre-grouping | Midland and South Western Junction Railway |
Post-grouping | Great Western Railway Western Region of British Railways |
Key dates | |
27 July 1881 [1] | Opened |
11 September 1961 | Closed to passengers |
1 November 1966 [2] | Goods facilities withdrawn |
1972 | closed completely |
Railway lines in Swindon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Swindon Town railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway at Swindon in Wiltshire, England. The station was open from 1881 to 1972, and was sited in the Old Town area about one-and-a-half miles from the Great Western Railway's Swindon Junction.
Swindon Town was originally planned under an Act of 1873 for a different site to the east of the eventual station, with a tunnel to be built under the hill on which the Old Town sits. But money ran out and the line was realigned to run south of the hill. The Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway opened between Swindon Town and Marlborough on 27 July 1881; in early 1882, the line was extended northwards from Swindon Town to a junction with the Great Western main line at Rushey Platt, and services were started between the two Swindon stations. Rushey Platt became a junction the following year with the opening of the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway as far as Cirencester Watermoor.
The SM&AR and the S&CER combined to form the M&SWJR in 1884. Services between the two Swindon stations ceased in 1885 because of the high charges the GWR imposed on M&SWJR trains. Finally, the northern section of the M&SWJR was extended in 1891 from Cirencester to a junction with the GWR Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway line at Andoversford railway station, so that through-services could be run from the north to Southampton and the south coast.
Swindon Town was seen as the most important station on the line, and housed the M&SWJR's offices. There was a loop line, a locomotive turntable and a loco shed at the site. The loop line platform was used for the shuttle services to Swindon's GWR station when these were reinstated following the takeover of the M&SWJR by the GWR at the Grouping in 1923.
Swindon Town station was heavily used in early years, but increasingly suffered from the concentration of traffic at the main GWR station as the focus of the town shifted away from the Old Town area to the newer parts that developed around the GWR station and the railway works there. Passenger and goods traffic on the M&SWJR fell very steeply after the Second World War and the line closed to passengers in 1961. Goods facilities were withdrawn in 1966, although freight trains conveying materials for the construction of the M4 motorway continued until 1972 when the track was abandoned. The track was lifted around 1978. [3]
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rushey Platt | Midland and South Western Junction Railway Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway | Chiseldon |
The M&SWJR office building remains on the site, but much of the rest has disappeared under a trading estate. Part of the track alignment, Old Town Railway Cutting, has been opened as a railway path and nature trail. [4]
Stroud railway station serves the market town of Stroud in Gloucestershire, England. It is a stop on the Gloucester–Swindon Golden Valley Line and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is located 102 miles 13 chains (164.4 km) west of London Paddington.
The Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway was a railway company intended to link Cheltenham, Gloucester and Swindon, in England. It was authorised in 1836 but it found it very hard to raise money for the construction, and it opened only a part of its line, between Swindon and Cirencester, in 1841. It sold its business to the Great Western Railway, which quickly built the line through to Gloucester in 1845 and Cheltenham in 1847; part of that route was shared with other companies.
Andoversford and Dowdeswell railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Gloucestershire. The station opened to passengers on 1 August 1891 with the opening of the section of the line between Cirencester Watermoor and the junction at Andoversford with the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham Lansdown to Banbury line, which had opened in 1881.
Withington railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway serving the village of Withington in Gloucestershire. The station opened to passengers on 1 August 1891 with the opening of the section of the line between Cirencester Watermoor and the junction at Andoversford with the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham Lansdown to Banbury line, which had opened in 1881.
Cirencester Watermoor railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) at Cirencester in Gloucestershire. The station opened on 18 December 1883, as the terminus of the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway line from Swindon Town. That line then amalgamated with the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway to form the M&SWJR. Cirencester became a through-station in 1891, with the opening of the northern extension of the line between Cirencester and the junction at Andoversford with the Great Western Railway (GWR)'s Cheltenham Lansdown to Banbury line, which had opened in 1881.
South Cerney railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Gloucestershire. The station opened on 18 December 1883 on the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway line from Swindon Town to the temporary terminus at Cirencester Watermoor. The S&CER line amalgamated in 1884 with the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway to form the M&SWJR, and through services beyond Cirencester to the junction at Andoversford with the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham Lansdown to Banbury line, which had opened in 1881, started in 1891.
Cricklade railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Wiltshire, England. The station opened on 18 December 1883 on the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway line from Swindon Town to the temporary terminus at Cirencester Watermoor. The S&CER line then amalgamated with the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway to form the M&SWJR, and through services to the junction at Andoversford with the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham Lansdown to Banbury line, which had opened in 1881, began in 1891.
Rushey Platt railway station is a former station on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway at Rushey Platt, south west of the centre of Swindon in Wiltshire.
Moredon Halt railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Wiltshire. The station, a few miles north west of Swindon, opened on 25 March 1913 on the section of the line from Swindon Town to Cirencester that had itself opened in 1883.
Chiseldon railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Wiltshire.
Chiseldon Camp Halt was a small railway station on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway line, south of Swindon in Wiltshire, England.
Ogbourne railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Wiltshire, England. The station opened on 27 July 1881 on the Swindon Town to Marlborough section of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway. In 1883, a northwards extension, the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway, opened from Swindon Town to Cirencester Watermoor, with further northward extension to a junction with the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham to Banbury line near Andoversford opening in 1891, enabling through trains from the Midlands to the south, through Ogbourne. The SM&AR and the S&CER had in 1884 amalgamated to form the M&SWJR.
Andoversford Junction railway station was in Gloucestershire on the Great Western Railway's Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway that opened in 1881. Situated about six miles east of Cheltenham, the station served the village of Andoversford with its large market, which provided much of the traffic at the station.
Charlton Kings railway station was a small station in Gloucestershire serving the village of Charlton Kings and the southern outskirts of Cheltenham Spa.
Cheltenham Leckhampton railway station in Gloucestershire served the village of Leckhampton and the southern outskirts of Cheltenham Spa.
Grafton and Burbage railway station served the villages of Burbage and East and West Grafton in Wiltshire, England. The station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway. It opened in May 1882 as the northern terminus of the southern section of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway and became a through station when the line from Swindon was completed through a new Marlborough station and the Great Western Railway's Savernake station in February 1883.
Collingbourne railway station served the village of Collingbourne Ducis in Wiltshire, England. It was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) and opened on 1 May 1882 on the southern section of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway (SM&AR) which at that stage terminated at the-then next station to the north, Grafton and Burbage. In 1883, the SM&AR gained running rights over the Great Western Railway branch from Savernake Low Level to Marlborough and through services started between Swindon Town and Andover Junction railway station, and on down the Sprat and Winkle Line to Southampton. The same year, the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway (S&CER) opened north of Swindon as far as Cirencester and in 1884 the SM&AR and the S&CER merged to form the M&SWJR. The line was completed as a through-route from the Midlands to the south coast by the completion of the northern end of the route between Cirencester and Cheltenham in 1891.
Marlborough railway stations refers to the two railway stations which served Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, until 1964.
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton. The M&SWJR was formed in 1884 from the amalgamation of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway and the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway. The line was absorbed by the Great Western Railway at the 1923 grouping of the railways, and became part of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The railway closed to passengers in 1961, and to goods between 1964 and 1970. A small part of it has been reopened as the heritage Swindon and Cricklade Railway.
Ludgershall railway station was a railway station which served the town of Ludgershall in Wiltshire, England from 1882 to 1961.