Crowthorne railway station is a railway station in the village of

Crowthorne Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England. The station is managed by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

, who operate services on the

North Downs Line The North Downs Line is a passenger-train line connecting Reading, on the Great Western Main Line, to Redhill and , along the Brighton Main Line, linking many centres of population in that part of the North Downs which it traverses en route. ...

from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, Redhill and

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

. The station has two platforms: platform 1 for services towards Gatwick Airport and platform 2 for services towards Reading. It has bicycle racks on both platforms, and a car park adjacent to platform 2.

History

Crowthorne station was opened in 1859 as a result of pressure from the governors of

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

on the directors of the South Eastern Railway. The college also contributed £500 towards the cost of building the station, which was originally named "Wellington College for Crowthorne". This name remained until 17 June 1928, when it was renamed "Crowthorne". The old name board remained until World War II, though, when it was removed to prevent invading parachutists knowing where they were. Crowthorne station is located some 2 km from Crowthorne High Street, where most of the village's shops are located. The station building fell into disuse after destaffing came in 1967; whilst the goods facilities had ceased in 1964. In 1986-87, the station atmosphere was rejuvenated when the bus stop-style shelter on platform 2 was replaced by a new waiting shelter with the BR logo incorporated in blue (later red) bricks. This was done as part of a job-creation scheme. The original station building at the time served as premises for an electrical contractor, and later a salon. The shelter was altered slightly in later years to include a small ticket office, which is manned in the morning peak hours. In 2013, the station was beautified with murals painted by students at local schools and patients at nearby

Broadmoor Hospital Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure ...

, and signage for Wellington College was once again added. Later on in the Network SouthEast years, the station was under the North Downs sub-sector of Network SouthEast until privatisation. Management was then passed to Thames Trains, then First Great Western in 2004 (

First Great Western Link First Great Western Link (FGWL) was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the Thames franchise from April 2004 until March 2006. History In April 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority invited FirstGroup and Go-Ahe ...

from 2004 until 2006). Also at the station is a warning siren, part of the Broadmoor Hospital Security System.

Services

Crowthorne is served by trains approximately every 60 minutes in each direction all week. There are additional trains during peak periods on weekdays. Most trains operate between Reading and Redhill, with some services continuing to Gatwick Airport during peak hours.GB eNRT May 2016 Edition, Table 148 (Network Rail)

References

{{coord, 51.367, N, 0.819, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB, display=title Railway stations in Berkshire DfT Category E stations Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1859 Railway stations served by Great Western Railway 1859 establishments in England