The Staines to Windsor Line is a National Rail

National Rail

National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...

 suburban railway line in England operated by South West Trains

South West Trains

South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...

. It branches from the Waterloo to Reading Line

Waterloo to Reading Line

The Waterloo to Reading Line is a National Rail suburban electric railway line running generally westwards from London, England. It is operated by South West Trains...

 at Staines

Staines

Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...

 in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

 and runs to Windsor

Windsor, Berkshire

Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....

 in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

.

History

The line from Richmond

Richmond station (London)

Richmond station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London which is managed by South West Trains....

 through to was opened on 22 August 1848 by the Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway under the auspices of the London and South Western Railway

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

(L&SWR) and reached Windsor on 1 December 1849. The line was electrified

Railway electrification in Great Britain

Railway electrification in Great Britain started towards of the 19th century. A great range of voltages have been used in the intervening period using both overhead lines and third rails, however the most common standard for mainline services is now 25 kV AC using overhead lines and the...

 in 1930 at 660v DC {since raised to 750v) on the third rail

Third rail

A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...

 system by the Southern Railway

Southern Railway (Great Britain)

The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...

.

Connections to Staines West Branch

The L&SWR opposed connection with the Staines West Branch but three separate connections have existed. The earliest was through the sidings of the Staines Linoleum Company and would have required use of turntables or reversals to pass wagons between the lines. In World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 a single track spur was laid from just south of facing up on the Staines to Windsor Line as a diversionary route should cross-London routes be blocked by bombing, this link existed from 23 June 1940 to 16 December 1947 but was little used. The last, laid in 1981 when the Staines West Branch was severed by the M25 motorway

M25 motorway

The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...

, was to an oil terminal built in the former goods yard of Staines West station

Staines West railway station

Staines West railway station was a station in the town of Staines, from central London. The station was opened on 2 November 1885 as Staines, the southern terminus of the Staines & West Drayton Railway when the London and South Western Railway refused to have a connection to its line...

 and lasted until 1991.

Services

The service frequency is two trains per hour in each direction every day except early on Sunday mornings when it is one per hour. From Windsor to London Waterloo takes about 55 minutes, some 20 minutes longer than the quickest journeys to London Paddington from the other station at Windsor, Windsor & Eton Central.
Services on the line run beyond Staines

Staines railway station

Staines railway station is in Staines, Surrey. South West Trains manage it and provide all services which are down to , and and up to London Waterloo....

 to London Waterloo, and almost all call at these stations:

• London Waterloo
• Vauxhall
  Vauxhall station
  Vauxhall station is a National Rail, London Underground and London Buses interchange station in central London. It is at the Vauxhall Cross road junction opposite the southern approach to Vauxhall Bridge over the River Thames in the London district of Vauxhall...
  
  
• Richmond
  Richmond station (London)
  Richmond station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London which is managed by South West Trains....
  
  

Current eight-car passenger trains are too long for the platforms at Sunnymeads and Datchet; passengers for those stations need to travel in the front four coaches.

AirTrack

An early proposal, since dropped, was for the AirTrack rail link to have a station near the site of the former Staines High Street railway station

Staines High Street railway station

Staines High Street railway station was on the Windsor & Eton line of the London and South Western Railway. It was opened on 1 July 1884 and closed on 1 February 1916 and was built for trains using the West Curve...

.