London to Swindon and Bristol - General Information

[whole diary]

[Phil]

From London to Swindon and stations to Weston and Cheltenham

Description of line

London to Swindon - 4 tracks from London via Slough and Maidenhead to Reading, then on to Didcot. The fast lines have a top running speed on 125 m.p.h. most of the way. From Didcot to Swindon - 2 tracks, again 125 m.p.h., where the line divides.

A single track line heads north west to Kemble (where it becomes double again), Stroud, Stonehouse and Gloucester where trains reverse befor continuing up to Cheltenham.

From Swindon heading west, the double track forks again at Wootton Bassett, with the northerly of the two pairs of lines running crosscountry to Bristol (Parkway) then to the Severn Tunnel and South Wales. There are no stations left between Swindon and Parkway.

The southern of the two pairs is Brunel's old / original Lodon to Bristol Railway, with stations at Chippenham, Bath, Oldfield Park and Keynsham before the line arrives at Temple Meads. Between Chippenham and Bath, the line passes through Box Tunnel.

We've included Weston-super-mare on this page, as some London to Bristol trains carry on to Weston calling at the more major intermediate stations. There is also a local service on this line. Double track as far as Worle junction (end of the straight west of Worle station).  There are three platforms at Weston, but the Bristol-facing bay platform is currently not in use.


Service offered

The main line from London to Swindon (around 85 miles, journey time about 1 hour) is served by up to 5 express trains an hour calling at Reading, Didcot (some trains) and Swindon.

During the day, 2 trains an hour continue to Chippenham,Bath and Bristol (some extended further to Weston-super-Mare and a few even further)

2 trains an hour continue to Bristol Parkway, Newport and Cardiff (and 1 an hour beyond there to Swansea and occasionally Carmarthen)

1 train every 2 hours from Swindon carries on to Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse, Gloucester and Cheltenham.


Peak flows

Long distance commuter services in to London in the morning and return in the evening.


Known issues

Old trains (being refurbished)
Buffet cars to be withdrawn
Overcrowding
Some reliability issue
Exceptionaly high fares (highest per mile in Europe?)

[grahame]

I'm unpinning and unlocking this topic - general information about London to Swindon and Bristol - as it's showing its age.  I am replacing it with a new topic (which will not be locked, but will be pinned) which will have a series of titles for us to standardise under and update for the next 10 years.   Huge thanks and credit to Phil for how well this one has stood the test of time; very interesting to see what has changed and what has not!