| Great Western Main Line | |
|---|---|
Maidenhead Railway Bridge carrying the line over the River Thames |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Commuter rail, High-speed rail |
| System | National Rail |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | England |
| Termini | London Paddington Bristol Temple Meads |
| Stations | 25 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 30 June 1841 (complete line) |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Operator(s) | First Great Western Heathrow Connect Heathrow Express Chiltern Railways CrossCountry South West Trains |
| Depot(s) | Reading TMD Old Oak Common TMD |
| Rolling stock | Classes 43, 57, 150, 153, 158, 159, 165, 166, 220, 221, 332, 360 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 119 mi (192 km) |
| No. of tracks | Four (London to Didcot) Two (Didcot to Bristol) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Old gauge | 2,140 mm (7 ft 0 1⁄4 in) |
| Electrification | 25kV 50hz AC (Paddington to Airport Junction) (Airport Junction to Reading, Newbury, Oxford, Bristol and Cardiff Central by 2017[1]) |
| Operating speed | 125 mph (201 km/h) maximum |
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great Western, the South Wales Main Line, diverges from the core line west of Swindon and terminates in Swansea. The term "Great Western" is also used by Network Rail and other rail transport organisations in the UK rail industry to denote a wider group of routes, see Associated routes below.
The core London–Bristol Temple Meads line is the original route of the pre-1948 Great Western Railway which was subsequently taken over by the Western Region of British Railways and is now part of the Network Rail system.
Contents |
The line was built by the Great Western Railway and engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as a dual track line using a wider 7 ft 0 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge and was opened in stages between 1838 and 1840. It was supplemented with a third rail for dual gauge operation allowing standard gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) trains to also operate on the route in stages between 1854 and 1875. Dual gauge was introduced as follows: London to Reading (1 October 1861), Reading to Didcot (22 December 1856), Didcot to Swindon (February 1872), Swindon to Thingley Junction, Chippenham (June 1874), Thingley Junction to Bathampton (16 March 1875), Bathampton to Bristol (June 1874), Bristol station area (29 May 1854). The broad gauge remained in use until 1892. Evidence of the original broad gauge can still be seen at many places where bridges are a wider than usual, or where tracks are ten feet apart instead of the usual six.
The original dual tracks were widened to four track in various places between 1877 and 1899. Paddington to Southall (1 October 1877), Southall to West Drayton (25 November 1878), West Drayton to Slough (1 June 1879), Slough to east side of Maidenhead Bridge (8 September 1884), Maidenhead Bridge to Reading (4 June 1893(, Reading station (1899), Reading to Pangbourne (30 July 1893), Pangbourne to Cholsey and Moulsford (?), Cholsey and Moulsford to Didcot (27 December 1892), Various short sections between Didcot and Swindon, and at Bristol.
Following the Slough rail accident in 1900 when five passengers were killed improved vacuum braking systems were used on locomotives and passenger rolling stock and Automatic Train Control (ATC) was introduced in 1908.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Great Western Railway was taken into government control, as were most major railways in Britain and were reorganised after the war into the 'big four' companies, of which the Great Western Railway was one. The railways returned to direct government control during World War II before being nationalised to form British Railways in 1948.
The line speed was upgraded during the 1970s to support the introduction of the InterCity 125 (HST).[2]
In August 2008, it was announced that a number of speed restrictions on the relief lines between Reading and London have been raised so that 86% of the line can be used at 90 miles per hour (140 km/h),[3] however the time allowed between stations for trains running on the relief lines has been reduced in the December 2008 timetable to improve timekeeping.[4]
Communities served: West London (including Acton, Ealing, Hanwell – Southall – Hayes – Harlington – West Drayton) – Iver – Slough – Langley – Burnham – Taplow – Maidenhead – Twyford – Reading – Tilehurst – Goring-on-Thames – Streatley – Cholsey – Didcot – Swindon – Chippenham – Bath – Keynsham – Bristol
From London to Didcot, the line follows the Thames Valley, crossing the River Thames three times, including on the famous Maidenhead Railway Bridge. After Swindon trains pass the Swindon Steam Railway Museum. From Wootton Bassett there are two different routes to Bristol, firstly via Box Tunnel and secondly via Bristol Parkway.
It is also possible to run via the Wessex Main Line but this involves a reversal at Bradford Junction so is only really suitable for multiple unit trains or via Reading to Bath via Newbury. Trains on the Great Western Main Line are sometimes diverted from Reading along the Reading to Taunton line as far as Westbury, from where they can use the Wessex Main Line to reach either Chippenham, or Bath Spa. Beyond Bristol, some trains continue on the Bristol to Taunton Line to Weston-super-Mare or beyond.
The following routes as managed by Network Rail as part of the Great Western Main Line (Route 13):[5] Didcot to Oxford and Worcester via the Cherwell Valley Line and Cotswold Line, Swindon to Cheltenham Spa via the Golden Valley Line, Swindon to Cardiff Central and Swansea via the South Wales Main Line, Cross Country Routes south of Birmingham and also all connecting branch lines.
Main line and local services are provided by First Great Western (FGW). The stations served by express trains between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads are: Slough, Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa and Keynsham. Not all trains call at all of these stations, especially Slough, Didcot and Keynsham.
Fast trains from Paddington to London Heathrow Airport are operated by BAA as the Heathrow Express. Local services on this route are jointly operated by FGW and BAA under the Heathrow Connect name.
CrossCountry operate trains between Reading and Oxford, using the Great Western Main Line as far as Didcot and South West Trains operate a limited number of trains between Bath and Bristol.
First Great Western also operate a train between London Paddington – Cardiff Central (South Wales) every 30 minutes, with hourly extensions to Swansea. Additionally, 2–3 trains continue to Pembroke Dock on weekends during the Summer season to connect with ferry services to Ireland.
Between London and Didcot there are four tracks, grouped by speed with the "relief" lines on the north side of the "main" lines. Most smaller stations only have platforms in use on the relief lines. Between Didcot and Royal Wootton Bassett there are a series of passing loops lines to allow fast trains to overtake slower ones. This section is also signalled for bi-directional running on each line but this facility is usually only used during engineering working or when there is significant disruption to traffic in one direction.
The line is currently not electrified except for a short 12 miles section of electrified 25 kV AC overhead wires between Paddington and Airport Junction (the junction with the line to London Heathrow Airport near Hayes).
The line speed is 125 miles per hour (201 km/h). The relief lines from Paddington to Didcot are currently limited to 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) as far as Reading, and then 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) to Didcot. Lower restrictions apply at various locations. It is one of only two Network Rail-owned lines to be equipped with the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, the other being the Chiltern Main Line.
The Great Western is currently undergoing a £5 billion modernisation by Network Rail.[6]
Reading railway station is undergoing a major redevelopment with new platforms, a new entrance, footbridge and lifts.[7]
Swansea railway station is undergo renovation which will include an enlarged concourse, a new entrance, a new partition wall between concourse and platforms together with a new cafe and more shops.[8][9]
A major renewal programme is underway from bases at Reading and Taunton.
As part of Crossrail the Great Western was already planned to be electrified from Airport Junction to Maidenhead but, following a number of announcements and delays the government announced in March 2011 that the line would be electrified between London and Cardiff together with the section linking Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads.[10][11]
Network Rail plans to install European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in-cab signalling on the Great Western line[12][13]: this is a pre-requisite for the new Super Express trains to run at 140 mph (225 km/h).[14] Some or all of the resignalling work will be done during the electrification work.[12]
Further capacity improvements are also scheduled at Swindon, adding to recent changes and the new Platform 4.
Crossrail services are planned to terminate at Maidenhead. However with electrification of the Great Western now being extended westwards beyond Maidenhead, the Department of Transport is considering extending Crossrail to terminate at Reading from the outset.[12] Some of the current suburban services into London Paddington are planned to be transferred to the new Crossrail service, which will in turn free up some surface-level capacity at London Paddington.[12]
By 2016, there are plans for a direct rail link from Swindon to London Heathrow Airport.[15] There are also calls for the reintroduction of a station at Corsham[16] due to recent growth of the town. The original station was closed to passengers in 1965.
Other more distant aspirations include resignalling and capacity improvements at Reading; the provision of four continuous tracks between Didcot and Swindon (including a grade-separated junction at Milton, where the down (westbound) relief line switches from the north side of the line to the south); and resignalling between Bath and Bristol to enable trains to run closer together.
Access to Heathrow Airport from the west remains an aspiration and there is a proposed future link to Heathrow Airport directly from Reading under the Heathrow Airtrack scheme which would use a route south of the Great Western main line. Plans for electrification of the line will make it easier to access Heathrow from Reading given that lack of electrification between Reading station and Heathrow Airport Junction near West Drayton station was a limiting factor.[12]
Network Rail intends to replace the ATP system with ETCS – Level 2[17] from 2017 to 2035 along with the introduction of the new IEP trains.
Signalling Solutions is to resignal the 12 miles from Paddington to West Drayton, including the Airport branch, as part of the Crossrail project.[18]
The Slough rail accident in June 1900 occurred after an express train from Paddington to Falmouth Docks ran through two sets of signals at danger, and collided with a local train heading for Windsor. Five passengers were killed and 35 were seriously injured.
The Ealing rail crash occurred on 19 December 1973 when a train from Paddington to Oxford derailed: ten passengers were killed and 94 injured.
The Southall rail crash in 1997 resulted in seven deaths and 139 injuries and severely damaged public confidence in the safety of the rail system. Great Western Trains was fined £1.5 million for allowing high speed trains to run long journeys with Automatic Warning System inoperative as was the case in this incident.
The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in 1999 resulted in thirty-one deaths and more than 520 injured. Thames Trains was fined a record £2,000,000 for violations of health and safety law in connection with this accident.[19] Network Rail pleaded guilty to charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in relation to the accident. It received a fine of £4 million on 30 March 2007, and was ordered to pay £225,000 in costs.[20]
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||