Westbury railway station
Encyclopedia
Westbury railway station serves the town of Westbury, Wiltshire
, England
. The station is managed by First Great Western
.
The station is a major junction
, serving the Reading to Plymouth Line
with services to and from Penzance
and London Paddington, the Wessex Main Line
with services to and from Cardiff
and Portsmouth
, local services to Swindon
, the Heart of Wessex Line
providing local services from Bristol to Weymouth
, and services to London Waterloo as well as large stone trains from the Mendip
quarries.
The buffet at Westbury appeared in a list of "highly commended" station cafes published in The Guardian
in 2009.
on 5 September 1854. The Salisbury branch opened on 30 June 1856, whilst the opening of the line to Patney & Chirton
in 1900 (along with that further west from Castle Cary to Cogload Junction
six years later) completed the GWR's new main line from London Paddington to and beyond.
In the 1880s, the station was one of the meeting places of the South and West Wilts Hunt.
In 1901, Westbury railway station was entirely rebuilt, creating two "island" platforms six hundred feet long and forty feet wide. It has since been rebuilt and remodelled several times, most recently when the area was resignalled in 1985, but without changing the underlying form created in 1901. A freight yard next to the station is used by bulk limestone trains from the rail-served quarries at Merehead
and Whatley
in Somerset
.
On the Cardiff to Southampton and Portsmouth line, the basic service is hourly in each direction on weekdays & Saturdays and two-hourly on Sundays.
There is also a separate hourly stopping service between , Bristol and Westbury (Mon-Sat) on this route. Seven of these trains continue through to Weymouth (plus another that starts here), whilst there are eight from Weymouth to Bristol & Gloucester. On Sundays there are five trains each way between Bristol & Weymouth in the summer months, dropping to three each way in winter.
South West Trains
run a limited service between Bristol and London Waterloo that serves the station (three per day to/from Waterloo plus a fourth that starts/terminates at Salisbury) and there are a number of other local workings to Frome, Warminster and Southampton plus a single daily through train to (and two from there).
Finally there is a limited service to/from via Trowbridge and - currently there are two trains per day Mon - Sat and one each way on Sundays.
Westbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse.-Name:The most likely origin of the West- in Westbury is simply that the town is near the western edge of the county of Wiltshire, the bounds of which have been much the same...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The station is managed by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
.
The station is a major junction
Junction (rail)
A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...
, serving the Reading to Plymouth Line
Reading to Taunton line
The Reading to Taunton line also known as the Berks and Hants is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line that diverges at Reading, running to Cogload Junction near Taunton, where it joins the Bristol to Exeter line....
with services to and from Penzance
Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The station is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line from London Paddington station. The current journey time to or from London is about five hours....
and London Paddington, the Wessex Main Line
Wessex Main Line
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.- Places served :The places served are listed below.*Bristol*Keynsham*Oldfield Park*Bath...
with services to and from Cardiff
Cardiff Central
Cardiff Central may refer to:Politics*Cardiff Central *Cardiff Central Transport*Cardiff Central railway station*Cardiff Central bus stationGeography*Cardiff City CentreBuildings...
and Portsmouth
Portsmouth Harbour railway station
Portsmouth Harbour railway station is a railway station in Portsmouth, England. It is situated beside Gunwharf Quays in the city's harbour, and is an important transport terminal, with a bus interchange and ferry services to Gosport and the Isle of Wight. The station currently has four platforms:...
, local services to Swindon
Swindon railway station
Swindon railway station is in the town of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The station entrance is on Station Road, to the south of the line.It is approximately from the central bus station and the town centre...
, the Heart of Wessex Line
Heart of Wessex Line
The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth line, is a United Kingdom railway line that runs from Bristol to Westbury to Weymouth...
providing local services from Bristol to Weymouth
Weymouth railway station
Weymouth railway station is a railway station serving the town of Weymouth, Dorset, England. The station is the terminus of both the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo and the Heart of Wessex Line from and .-History:...
, and services to London Waterloo as well as large stone trains from the Mendip
Mendip
Mendip is a local government district of Somerset in England. The Mendip district covers a largely rural area of ranging from the Mendip Hills through on to the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 110,000...
quarries.
The buffet at Westbury appeared in a list of "highly commended" station cafes published in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 2009.
History
The station was opened by the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth RailwayWilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway
The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway was a broad gauge railway that linked the Great Western Railway at Chippenham in 'Wilts' with Weymouth in Dorset, England. Branches ran to Devizes, Bradford-on-Avon and Salisbury in Wiltshire, and to Radstock in Somerset. The majority of the line survives...
on 5 September 1854. The Salisbury branch opened on 30 June 1856, whilst the opening of the line to Patney & Chirton
Stert and Westbury Railway
The Stert and Westbury Railway was opened by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900 in Wiltshire, England. It shortened the distance between London Paddington station and , and since 1906 has also formed part of the Reading to Taunton line for a shorter journey from London to .-History:The Great...
in 1900 (along with that further west from Castle Cary to Cogload Junction
Cogload Junction
Cogload Junction is a railway junction in Durston, Somerset, England. It is where the 1906-opened London to Penzance Line via Castle Cary joins the original line that runs via Bristol...
six years later) completed the GWR's new main line from London Paddington to and beyond.
In the 1880s, the station was one of the meeting places of the South and West Wilts Hunt.
In 1901, Westbury railway station was entirely rebuilt, creating two "island" platforms six hundred feet long and forty feet wide. It has since been rebuilt and remodelled several times, most recently when the area was resignalled in 1985, but without changing the underlying form created in 1901. A freight yard next to the station is used by bulk limestone trains from the rail-served quarries at Merehead
Torr Works
Torr Works quarry, is a limestone quarry at East Cranmore, near Shepton Mallet on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England. It is also known as Merehead Quarry....
and Whatley
Whatley Quarry
Whatley Quarry, is a limestone quarry owned by Hanson plc, near the village of Whatley on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England.The quarry exhibits pale to dark grey Carboniferous Limestone with small area of overlying horizontally bedded buff-coloured Jurassic oolitic limestone forming an angular...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
.
Services
As befits its status as a busy junction, the station is well served by all three main routes that pass through it. On the main West of England line, there are nine trains each way that call here Mon-Fri (roughly every two hours) and seven on Saturdays, with westbound trains continuing to one of Exeter St Davids, Plymouth or Penzance. There are also a pair of weekday commuter services from the station to London Paddington - one that starts/terminates here and another that runs to/from nearby . Six trains each way call on Sundays.On the Cardiff to Southampton and Portsmouth line, the basic service is hourly in each direction on weekdays & Saturdays and two-hourly on Sundays.
There is also a separate hourly stopping service between , Bristol and Westbury (Mon-Sat) on this route. Seven of these trains continue through to Weymouth (plus another that starts here), whilst there are eight from Weymouth to Bristol & Gloucester. On Sundays there are five trains each way between Bristol & Weymouth in the summer months, dropping to three each way in winter.
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...
run a limited service between Bristol and London Waterloo that serves the station (three per day to/from Waterloo plus a fourth that starts/terminates at Salisbury) and there are a number of other local workings to Frome, Warminster and Southampton plus a single daily through train to (and two from there).
Finally there is a limited service to/from via Trowbridge and - currently there are two trains per day Mon - Sat and one each way on Sundays.