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 of 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 before continuing to Cheltenham.

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

The southern of the two pairs is Brunel's original London to Bristol Railway, with stations at Chippenham, Bath, Oldfield Park and Keynsham before the line arrives at Bristol 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 major intermediate stations. There is also a local service on this line. Double track to Weston Milton, then single track into Weston, where there are two platforms.



The main line from London to Swindon (around 77 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 to Carmarthen)

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



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



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Buffet cars to be withdrawn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



See here

Also ... blogs and other active groups:

Recent discussions:
Link to ... Non stop London to Bristol!
Link to ... Key Evening Peak Cancellation (27/06/2008)
Link to ... Adelante On London-Bristol Services? (24/06/2008)
Link to ... Journey time from Bristol to London could be slashed
Link to ... EK Unhappy That 0705 Chippenham-London Suspended Over Summer Months
Link to ... Operating Incident at Bath Spa
Link to ... New Gloucester Railway Triangle Station?
Link to ... Overunning Engineering Work between Bristol and Bath
Link to ... Fatality Bath Area
Link to .. EK - "Another Month...And Still No Car Park Machines"
Link to .. can someone shead any light on this for me?
Link to .. Adelante On London-Bristol Services? (20/04/2008)
Link to .. Disruption At Bathampton Junction (15/04/2008)
Link to .. FGW Told It Must Be Ready For The Olympics
Link to .. Another Bad Day For Economy Klaus
Link to .. RAIB - Kemble January 2007 Derailment Caused By Wall Collapse
Link to .. EK - "Nothing To Be Proud Of"
Link to .. Paignton-London Paddington Service Skipping Stops (25/03/2008)
Link to .. Class 153 Unit On The Stroud Valley Line? (21/03/2008)
Link to .. Er, what?





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