Henley branch line

This article is about the railway line to Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. For the former branch line to Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, see Henley-in-Arden railway station.

Henley Branch Line
File:Henley060601.JPG
A sign at Henley-on-Thames showing the Regatta Line name
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Berkshire Oxfordshire South East England
Termini	Twyford Henley-on-Thames
Stations	4
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Great Western Railway
Rolling stock	Class 165 "Turbo" Class 166 "Turbo Express"
History
Opened	1857
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	50 mph (80 km/h)

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The Henley Branch Line is a branch railway line between Twyford and Henley-on-Thames, between the English counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. It was built by the Great Western Railway in 1857. Train services are provided by the present day Great Western Railway.

The railway provides access to the River Thames and the Thames Path and is heavily used during the Henley Royal Regatta. It is sometimes referred to as the Regatta Line, and was branded as such by First Great Western and Oxfordshire County Council in 2006, although that name is no longer used by the railway industry.

At periods other than the Regatta, many of the line's users are commuters to London, and students attending the nearby Henley College.

Route

From a junction with the Great Western Main Line at Twyford railway station, it turns north and goes under the A4 on its way to the first stop at Wargrave. From Wargrave, it crosses the River Thames into Oxfordshire and proceeds to Shiplake, the second stop on the line. Finally, from Shiplake it continues to the town of Henley-on-Thames, where the line terminates. The speed limit is 50 mph along most of line, except for the Shiplake bridge, which is 30 mph for multiple units (10 mph for any other type of train), and the approach to Twyford, which is 25 mph.

Electrification

See also: Proposed railway electrification in Great Britain

This line is 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) long and is not currently electrified. Electrification of the branch was announced in July 2012 and was started in April 2015; as of that time, markings have been placed next to the track where the overhead wire masts are to go and a significant number of trees have been trimmed or removed; re-signalling was also carried out during this time. This is in conjunction with the electrification of the Great Western Main Line.

Train services

Since December 2008 weekday services run at approximately 50 minute intervals between Twyford, on the Great Western Main Line (usually with a 2 coach train), and Henley, with some through trains to and from London Paddington at peak times (usually with 4-6 coaches). At weekends the service is hourly. Additional services are provided during Henley Regatta at the beginning of July, with longer trains. All services are operated by Great Western Railway, using Class 165/166 Turbo diesel multiple units. Once the electrification has been completed, it is proposed that services will be formed of Class 365 and Class 387 trains currently in use by Thameslink and Great Northern in London.

History

The line was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1857. The only intermediate station was Shiplake. Originally laid as a single line to the GWR's 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge the branch was converted to standard gauge on 24 March 1876. A second track was laid along the line in 1897, just in time for the Regatta of that year. In 1900 a station was provided at Wargrave, after repeated requests from the villagers.

The line was singled again in June 1961, although a passing loop was retained at Shiplake until 1968. The last steam-hauled passenger train ran in 1963 and when goods traffic was withdrawn by the Western Region of British Railways in 1964 it meant the end of steam locomotive working on the branch and the removal of the various sidings and buildings serving the traffic. Since then the line has been single throughout, but it retains minimal signalling (which since December 2010 has been controlled from the new Thames Valley Signalling Centre at Didcot), which permits a second train to follow another in the same direction. In 1992 a steam service was operated on two Sundays as an attraction.

The buildings at Henley were demolished in 1975; the present building was erected in 1985. Wargrave and Shiplake station buildings were demolished in 1985 and replaced by bus shelters.

Since the privatisation of British Rail, the line has been operated by Thames Trains then First Great Western which, since September 2015 has traded as 'Great Western Railway'.

Regatta Line branding

As is now common practice for branch lines, the Regatta Line brand has been introduced to focus public awareness of the train services. The name reflects the Henley Regatta, for which the town of Henley-on-Thames is most famous. The logo depicts a number of rowing oars, again to reflect the connection with the Regatta, plus a stylised image of Henley Bridge – only three of the five arches of this 18th-century stone-built bridge are shown. The blue colouring signifies the river, and the purple is one of First Group's corporate colours.

See also

• Henley Royal Regatta
• Henley-on-Thames

Further reading

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
• Karau, Paul (1982). An illustrated history of the Henley-on-Thames Branch. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 0-906867-03-7.
• Mitchell, Vic and Smith, Keith (2002). Branch Lines to Henley, Windsor and Marlow. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-77-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

• National Rail
• Great Western Railway