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The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth Line, is a railway line that runs from to and Weymouth in England. It shares the
Wessex Main Line The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth. The Wessex Main Line intersects the Reading to Taunton Line at and ...
as far as Westbury and then follows the course of the
Reading to Taunton Line Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spellin ...
as far as .


History


Places served

The cities, towns and villages served by this route are listed below: *
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
*
Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. It has a population of 16,000. It was listed in the Domesday Book as ''Cainesham'' (as it is pronounced), which is believed to mean the home of ...
*
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Pla ...
* Freshford *
Avoncliff Avoncliff is a small village in west Wiltshire, England, in the north of Westwood parish about southwest of Bradford-on-Avon. It is the point at which the Kennet and Avon canal crosses the river and railway line via the Avoncliff Aqueduct, ...
*
Bradford on Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon or Bradford upon Avon) is a town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset, which had a population of 9,402 at the 2011 census. The town's canal, historic buildings, s ...
*
Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) sout ...
* Westbury *
Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...
*
Bruton Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 1 ...
*
Castle Cary Castle Cary () is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, north west of Wincanton and south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill and on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett. History The word Cary derives f ...
*
Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...
* Thornford *
Yetminster Yetminster is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies south-west of Sherborne. It is sited on the River Wriggle, a tributary of the River Yeo, and is built almost entirely of honey-coloured limestone, which gives ...
* Chetnole * Maiden Newton * Dorchester * Upwey * Weymouth


Operator

Passenger services on the route are operated 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 ...
and South Western Railway. Most Great Western services originate from
Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...
or . Some originate from towns and cities beyond Bristol such as ,
Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral ...
and . South Western Railway operate a limited service between London Waterloo and Yeovil Junction via Castle Cary. From summer 2016 there was also a "seaside special" service between Weymouth and or Waterloo via Yeovil Junction, but this was withdrawn in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.


Rolling stock

Services are typically operated with Class 165 and Class 166 "Networker Turbo" trains. These were introduced in the late 2010s after they were released from the Thames Valley during the modernisation of the Great Western Main Line. South Western Railway services are operated by Class 159s and sometimes Class 158. Before the introduction of the Networker Turbo trains, the route was typically operated with Sprinter diesel multiple unit trains, typically of 2 or 3 coach Class 150, with some Class 158 trains. Past rolling stock has included locomotive-hauled trains, including
British Railways Mark 2 The Mark 2 family of railway carriages are British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops (from 1969 British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL)) between 1964 and 1975. They were of steel construction. Introduc ...
coaches hauled by Class 67 used to strengthen high-demand summer Saturday services in 2008–2010 between Bristol and the seaside resort of Weymouth.


Community rail

A Bristol to Weymouth Rail Partnership was created in 1998 so that local authorities could support the line. In 2003 this was rebranded as the Heart of Wessex partnership and line. It is designated as a community rail line.


Accidents and incidents

*On 18 March 1849, a passenger train became divided approaching . The rear portion then ran into the front portion when the latter stopped at the station. One person was injured. *On 20 January 1853 a luggage train was derailed near Keynsham due to an axle failure on one of the carriages. *On 7 June 1865, a passenger train ran into the rear of another near Keynsham, and an empty stock train ran into the wreckage. At least three people were injured. *On 4 August 1868, a passenger train collided with the
buffer stop A buffer stop, bumper, bumping post, bumper block or stopblock (US), is a device to prevent railway vehicles from going past the end of a physical section of track. The design of the buffer stop is dependent, in part, on the kind of couplings ...
s at due to poor rail conditions and driver error. Six people were injured. *On 28 October 1873, a mail train passed a signal at danger and collided with a luggage train at . *On 11 June 1875, a passenger train was derailed at Bathampton Junction. One person was killed and six were injured, three seriously. *On 2 July 1876, a freight train was derailed at Bathampton Junction. *On 15 August 1876, a freight train was derailed at Hampton Row after a bale of
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
fell off a wagon and derailed the one behind it. *On 24 October 1882, a passenger train was derailed near when a bridge collapsed under it due to a storm. Several people were injured, on seriously. *On 8 August 1913, a passenger train ran into the rear of another at due to passing a signal at danger. Two people were killed and ten injured, two seriously. *On 11 January 1966, an express passenger train ran into the rear of another at due to a signalman's error. A locomotive was then in a sidelong collision with the wreckage. Nineteen passengers were injured.
Diesel-hydraulic A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wh ...
locomotive D 1071 ''Western Druid'' was severely damaged; D 864 ''Zambesi'' was slightly damaged. *On 25 August 1974, a passenger train was derailed at after passing a signal at danger. Eighteen people were injured. *On 24 March 1987, a passenger train and a freight train were in a head-on collision at due to the freight train passing a signal at danger. Locomotives 33 032 and 47 202 were severely damaged. Fifteen people were injured, some seriously. *On 10 November 2008, a freight train was derailed at East Somerset Junction due to a signalman's error. *On 12 November 2008, a passenger train collided with a van on a
level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...
at . There were no injuries. *On 6 December 2011, a train was derailed at . *On 24 January 2013, a passenger train caught fire at . *On 20 March 2017, a freight train was derailed at East Somerset Junction. The line was closed until 25 March.


References


Bibliography

* * * ISBN(no ISBN)


External links


Heart of Wessex line
– The Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership {{Railway lines in South West England Rail transport in Wiltshire Community railway lines in England Rail transport in Dorset Railway lines in South West England Wessex