Henley-on-Thames railway station is a

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the town of

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England. The station is on the Henley-on-Thames branch line that links the towns of Henley and Twyford. It is down the line from Twyford and measured from . It is served by local services 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 ...

. The station has a single terminal platform, which is long enough to accommodate an eight coach train. There is a station building, with waiting area, ticket office and self-service ticket machines, together with a 280 space car park. The station is staffed in the mornings only, on Mondays to Saturdays.

History

The station was opened by the

on 1 June 1857. It had three platforms, mainly to serve the intensive service for Regatta traffic, for which purpose they were lengthened in 1891. Mitchell & Smith, fig.27 The station was host to some eight berth GWR

camp coach Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to ...

es in 1937, they were positioned here to provide accommodation for parties wishing to witness the coronation. These coaches were let at twice the normal hire rate for the week. Two camping coaches were positioned here by the Western Region in 1964. The original

trainshed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...

and station building, which were to the north of the present station, were removed in 1975 and the site sold. The platforms were reduced to two from 16 March 1969, and then to just one in 1986. The present building was erected in 1985 to serve the one remaining platform. Other facilities at the station included a large goods yard (closed 7 September 1964), which is now the car park, a goods shed, signal box (closed 20 March 1972), engine shed (closed 5 October 1958), and turntable. These were progressively removed in the 1960s and 1970s. To the south of the station lay extensive sidings, used to stable extra trains during the regatta and at other times to store surplus coaches from as far away as

Old Oak Common Old Oak Common is an area of Hammersmith, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London. Together with neighbouring Park Royal, the area is intended to become the UK's largest regeneration scheme, the scale of which has led to ...

In popular culture

The station in its 1891 form appears in the closing scenes of the 1958 British film The Key.

Service

In normal service, there is a regular service between Henley-on-Thames station and Twyford station, with all trains calling at the intermediate stations of and . Trains operate every 30 minutes on all days of the week. During the morning and evening rush hours some services run through to/from

London Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great We ...

, whilst a few off-peak trains run through to/from

Reading station Reading railway station is a major transport hub in Reading, Berkshire, England. It is on the northern edge of the town centre, near the main retail and commercial areas and the River Thames, from . Reading is the ninth-busiest station in th ...

. At other times, passengers for Paddington and Reading must change at Twyford. During the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

, held every July, a special timetable is operated with additional trains. During the period of the regatta, not all trains stop at Shiplake and Wargrave. Although the off-peak services use 2 coach trains and the peak time services to and from Paddington are usually no longer than 6 coaches, longer trains are run during the Regatta.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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{{Railway stations in Oxfordshire

Railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

Railway stations in Oxfordshire Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1857 Railway stations served by Great Western Railway 1857 establishments in England