Swindon railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Swindon | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Swindon | ||
| Local authority | Swindon (borough) | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | SWI | ||
| Managed by | First Great Western | ||
| Platforms in use | 4 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 ** | 2.258 million | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Swindon. | |||
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Swindon railway station serves the town of Swindon, Wiltshire in the United Kingdom.
Contents |
[edit] Today
The station is served by inter-city services from London Paddington to Bristol and South Wales.
Swindon is a major junction, where the old Great Western Railway line to Gloucester and Cheltenham, the Great Western Main Line to Bristol Temple Meads, and the Great Western Railway route to Bristol Parkway and South Wales diverge.
The station consists of an island platform containing a buffet, small shop and waiting room. Passengers enter via a building to the south of the line, containing a booking office. They then proceed to the platform via a subway and stairs or lifts. The new platform 4 has been recently opened on the down side (westbound track - formerly the location of the parcels siding) to improve operational flexibility. it contains a coffee shop and waiting room.
New ticket-controlled barriers have been installed, both across the main subway, and at the foot of the access stairs to the research council bridge. This is to try and prevent fare jumping, but has the side effect that the station is no longer a through route between town, and north Swindon, where a large car park, and Swindon College are both located.
Located on Station Road, it is a 5 minute walk from the central bus station and the town centre.
[edit] History
- See also: History of Swindon, Swindon Works, and Great Western Railway
With the railway passing through town in early 1841, the Goddard Arms public house in Old Swindon was used as a railway booking office in lieu of a station. Tickets purchased included the fare for a horse-drawn carriage to the tracks down the hill.[1]
Swindon railway station opened in 1842 with construction of the Great Western Railway's engineering works continuing. Until 1895, every passing train stopped here for at least 10 minutes to change locomotives. As such Swindon station hosted the first recorded Railway refreshment rooms. Divided according to class, Swindonians for a time were eminently proud that even the current King and Queen of the time had partaken of refreshments there.[1] The station in 1842 was of 3 storeys, with the refreshment rooms on the ground floor, the upper floors comprising the station hotel and lounge. The building was demolished in 1972, with today's modern station and office block erected on the site.[1]
[edit] Future
[edit] Great Western Franchise
It was announced in December 2005 that various stations in the Thames Valley region are going to be upgraded.[2]
Improvements to Swindon station will be:
- New
- Waiting facilities
- Toilets
- Refreshment facilities
- More
- Car parking spaces
- Ticket machines
- Help desks
[edit] Awards
- 2004 - Station Excellence of the Year Award won. The year-old Platform 4 had saved hundreds of minutes of passenger time as it removed a bottleneck at the station.
- 2005 - Staff at the station received an internal award, First for Service, for their outstanding customer treatment.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Mark Child [2002]. Swindon : An Illustrated History. United Kingdom: Breedon Books Publishing. ISBN 1-85983-322-5.
- ^ Plans for stations improvements bbc.co.uk December 13, 2005
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Swindon railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Swindon railway station from Multimap.com
