Great Western main line
The Great Western main line is a main line railway in England, that runs westwards from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. It opened in 1841 and was the original route of the old Great Western Railway. In 1948 it became the Western Region of British Railways. It is now part of the national rail system managed by Network Rail.
Electrification
The line was electrified from Paddington to Heathrow Airport in the late 1990s. Work to electrify the rest of the route started in 2011. The aim was to complete the work all the way to Bristol by 2016.[1] Parts of the programme have been deferred because costs have tripled. The four sections deferred are: Didcot to Oxford, Bristol Parkway to Bristol Temple Meads, Royal Wootton Bassett Junction to Bristol Temple Meads and the Thames Valley branches to Henley-on-Thames and Windsor.[2][3]
Train services
Most trains are operated by Great Western Railway.
Great Western Main Line Media
Great Western Main Line map
St James Railway Bridge, Bath
Great Western Railway's 158763 and 158747 head out of Taunton with an afternoon service to Cardiff Central.
Oxford - GWR 165116 leaving for Reading
Leaving Cardiff Central for the two-hour journey to Taunton is Great Western Railway's 166219
Ealing Broadway - TfL 345015 Paddington service
Great Western Railway 'Electrostars' 387132 and 387143 call at Reading with a service from London Paddington to Didcot Parkway.
220013 at Reading, about to depart for Edinburgh.
Engineering work at Filton has blocked to route north from Bristol so Cross Country trains, such as 221132 on its way from Plymouth to Edinburgh, are being diverted through Bath and Swindon where they are making brief calls for passengers who would otherwise change at one of the Bristol stations.
800003 is passing Norton Fitzwarren with a short Great Western Railway service from Exeter St Davids to London Paddington.
References
- ↑ Network Rail (June 2011). "Modernising the Great Western" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ↑ correspondent, Gwyn Topham Transport (21 October 2015). "Cost of Great Western mainline electrification project triples to £2.8bn" – via www.theguardian.com.
- ↑ Ltd, DVV Media International. "Great Western electrification projects deferred". Railway Gazette. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-02-15.