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| Wessex Main Line | |
| Template:Px Crossing the river at Bradford-on-Avon | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Suburban rail, Heavy rail |
| System | National Rail |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | Wiltshire Hampshire South East England South West England |
| Operation | |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | {{#switch:sg
|3mm=3 mm (0.118 in) |4mm=4 mm (0.157 in) |4.5mm=4.5 mm (0.177 in) |4.8mm=4.8 mm (0.189 in) |6.5mm=6.5 mm (0.256 in) |6.53mm=6.53 mm (0.257 in) |8mm=8 mm (0.315 in) |8.97mm=8.97 mm (0.353 in) |9mm=9 mm (0.354 in) |9.42mm=9.42 mm (0.371 in) |10.5mm=10.5 mm (0.413 in) |11.94mm=11.94 mm (0.470 in) |12mm=12 mm (0.472 in) |12.7mm=12.7 mm (0.5 in) |13mm=13 mm (0.512 in) |13.5mm=13.5 mm (0.531 in) |14mm=14 mm (0.551 in) |14.125mm=14.125 mm (0.556 in) |14.2mm=14.2 mm (0.559 in) |14.28mm=14.28 mm (0.562 in) |14.3mm=14.3 mm (0.563 in)|15.76mm=15.76 mm (0.620 in) |
Template:Wessex Main Line diagram
The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth. The line intersects with the West of England Main Line at Salisbury, and with the Reading to Taunton Line at Westbury.
Places served[]
The places served are listed below.
- Bristol
- Keynsham
- Oldfield Park
- Bath
- Great Western Main Line diverges to Chippenham, Swindon and London Paddington
- Freshford
- Avoncliff
- Bradford-on-Avon
- Trowbridge
- Westbury
- Heart of Wessex Line diverges to Weymouth
- Dilton Marsh
- Warminster
- Salisbury
- Dean
- Mottisfont & Dunbridge
- Romsey
- Eastleigh to Romsey Line diverges to Chandler's Ford and Eastleigh
- Southampton
Passenger services are currently operated by First Great Western local services, supplemented by South West Trains between Salisbury and Bristol Temple Meads, and First Great Western high speed express services between Bristol and Bath. Some services start at Swindon also. Many services continue beyond Southampton along the West Coastway Line to Portsmouth Harbour and Brighton, and beyond Bristol to Newport and Cardiff along the South Wales Main Line. Strong passenger growth meant that Wessex Trains increased train lengths from two carriages to three in 2004, but the new franchise specification reduced them back to two carriages, with inevitable chronic overcrowding and passenger protests. As of 2011, the service now regularly runs with three carriages, although with significant overcrowding remaining in peak times.
Chippenham branch[]
There is a link from Trowbridge to Chippenham, with an intermediate stop at Melksham. Despite showing strong passenger growth in the previous few years, the new franchise reduced services in December 2006 to 2 each way per day, at times barely convenient for commuters. This has particularly hit Trowbridge to London commuters, who now generally have to drive to Chippenham or Westbury for a connection to London if they wish to arrive at the capital relatively early.
History[]
- Main article: Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway
References[]
- Daniels, Gerald; Dench, L A (1973). Passengers No More, 2nd edition, London: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-0438-2. OCLC 2554248.
External links[]
- www.savethetrain.org.uk, Melksham-based campaign to maintain services on the Chippenham branch.
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