West of England line
West of England line | |
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Overview | |
Status | Operational |
Owner | Network Rail |
Termini | |
Stations | 21 (Basingstoke to Exeter St Davids) |
Service | |
Type | Suburban rail, Heavy rail |
System | National Rail |
Operator(s) | South Western Railway |
Depot(s) | Salisbury TMD |
Rolling stock | Class 158 "Express Sprinter" Class 159 "South Western Turbo" |
Technical | |
Line length | 120 mi 77 ch (194.67 km) [Basingstoke to Exeter St Davids] 172 mi 12 ch (277.05 km) [London to Exeter St Davids via SWML] |
Number of tracks | Two (Basingstoke to Salisbury and Pinhoe to Exeter St Davids) One* (Salisbury to Pinhoe) *Various passing loops |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Operating speed | 90 mph maximum |
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The West of England line (also known as the West of England Main Line) is a British railway line from Basingstoke, Hampshire, to Exeter St Davids in Devon, England. Passenger services run between London Waterloo station and Exeter. Despite its historic title, it is not today's principal route from London to the West of England: Exeter and everywhere further west is reached more quickly from London Paddington via the Reading–Taunton line. At Salisbury, the line intersects with the Wessex Main Line.
History
When all sections had been incorporated into the London and South Western Railway, they consisted of the following:
- Basingstoke to Salisbury
- Branches:
- Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway opened June 1901, closed 30 May 1936
- From Hurstbourne and Andover to Romsey and on to Eastleigh and Southampton: both closed. Link via Longparish opened 1 June 1885; closed 6 July 1931.
- At Andover, junction with the Midland and South Western Junction Railway to Cheltenham
- Bulford Camp branch
- Salisbury to Romsey, with a branch to Bournemouth
- At Salisbury, the Great Western Railway (GWR) line from Westbury and Bristol had its own terminus: the L&SWR continued the route southeast towards Southampton. This route today is the Wessex Main Line.
- Between Salisbury and Exeter:
- Branches:
The line was downgraded by being singled for long sections west of Salisbury by British Rail. This restricts the number of trains on this section, but passing loops have been added to alleviate this problem.
Beyond Exeter, the line continued to Plymouth via Okehampton and Tavistock as the Exeter to Plymouth railway of the LSWR. This line is now partly closed, with the surviving sections downgraded to branch lines. The section from Exeter to Coleford Junction, near Yeoford, is still in existence as part of the Tarka Line (which continues to Barnstaple). The Dartmoor Railway still exists as a heritage line and industrial line from Coleford Junction to Okehampton, where the track breaks. Tavistock lacks a rail connection, and the final section of the original main line, from Bere Alston, continues to Plymouth as part of the Tamar Valley Line.
Route
Trains between London Waterloo and Exeter run on the South Western Main Line as far as Basingstoke. The West of England Line diverges from this line at Worting Junction, a short distance west of Basingstoke.
Network Rail splits the line into two sections: the first section from the line's start at Worting Junction (near Basingstoke) to Wilton Junction (near Salisbury) is classified as "London & SE commuter"; the section from Wilton Junction to Exeter is a "Secondary" route. The secondary route west of Salisbury is predominantly single track, but has three sections of double track and four passing loops.[1] The double track sections and passing loops are: a loop just outside Tisbury station,a loop at Gillingham station, double track from Templecombe to Yeovil Junction, a loop at the former Chard Junction station, 3 miles of double track centred on Axminster, a loop at Honiton station, and double track from Pinhoe to Exeter.
The line's speed limit is mainly 80–90 mph over its whole length from Basingstoke to Exeter.[2] Speed is further limited around the junctions. The first section to Wilton Junction has a listed line speed of 50–90 mph, and the secondary section to Exeter has a line speed of mainly 85 mph with parts at 70 mph.[1]
Current operations
Passenger services are currently operated by South Western Railway using Class 159 and Class 158 trains. They generally run half-hourly from London to Salisbury and hourly to Exeter, calling at Clapham Junction and/or Woking and then most stations between Basingstoke and Exeter St Davids although some smaller stations east of Salisbury and near Exeter have a reduced service.[3][4]
The Network Rail South West Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy (March 2006) recommended building an extended section of double track from Chard Junction to Axminster, plus a passing loop at Whimple. However, Network Rail's Route Plan,[5] is silent on the Whimple loop. The Axminster Loop is centred on Axminster station, and does not extend to Chard Junction as originally proposed. The line between Basingstoke, Salisbury and Exeter is not electrified.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Route Plan C Wessex" (PDF). Network Rail. March 2010. p. 29, figure 20. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "Route Plan C Wessex" (PDF). Network Rail. March 2010. p. 9, figure 4. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ "Table 160: London to Salisbury and Exeter" (PDF). Electronic National Rail Timetable. Network Rail. May 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Timetable No. 20" (PDF). South West Trains.
- ^ "Route 4: Wessex Routes" (PDF). Route Plans. Network Rail. 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- Network Rail Business Plan 2006: Route 3 – South West Main Line (PDF)
- Network Rail Business Plan 2006: Route 4 – Wessex Routes (PDF)
- Network Rail Business Plan 2006: Route 12 – Reading to Penzance (PDF)
- Ordnance Survey [1]
Bibliography
- R.V.J.Butt, (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 9781852605087.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - J.H. Lucking (1968). Railways of Dorset: an outline of their establishment, development and progress from 1825. Lichfield: Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. OCLC 31916.