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 prep ...
in the village of
Long Hanborough
Long Hanborough is a village in Hanborough civil parish, about northeast of Witney in West Oxfordshire, England. The village is the major settlement in Hanborough parish. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,630.
History
An ...
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, serving the village and surrounding district. As a result of the
Cotswold Line
The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England.
History Early years
The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845 Act of Parliament and opened in 1851 as part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway.
...
being singled the former up platform is the only one now in use for both up and down trains. It is served by Great Western Railway trains between
London Paddington
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 ...
and . It is also the nearest station to the towns of
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
and
Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
.
There is a passenger-operated ticket machine (card payments only; not cash) at the entrance to the station platform.
The station has two car parks, which between them provide 241 car spaces. However, on most weekdays the number of passengers parking at Hanborough exceeds the number of spaces available.Oxford Bus Museum is just east of the station, in the former goods yard.
History
19th century
The
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot JunctionThe nearby settlement is spelt ''Wolvercote'' and a later station on the LNWR Bicester line follows that spelling. ...
opened the station on 4 June 1853, and it was originally named ''Handborough''. Between 1854 and 1861 it served as a junction for Oxford-bound passengers changing from through trains between Worcester and , for whom a refreshment room was provided.
20th century
On 30 January 1965, by which time the station boards read "Handborough for Blenheim", it was the destination for the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
funeral train
A funeral train carries a coffin or coffins (caskets) to a place of interment by railway. Funeral trains today are often reserved for leaders, national heroes, or government officials, as part of a state funeral, but in the past were sometimes ...
of Sir
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
hauled by
Battle of Britain class
The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, collectively known as ''Light Pacifics'' or informally as ''Spam Cans'', are air-smoothed 4-6-2 ''Pacific'' steam locomotives designed for the Southern Railway by its Chief Mechanical Engine ...
Richard Dimbleby
Frederick Richard Dimbleby (25 May 1913 – 22 December 1965) was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator.
As host of the long-running current affairs ...
said the report '' The Reshaping of British Railways'' had scheduled the station for closure.
In fact the station remained open, but in January 1966 it was de-staffed. Thereafter the standard OW&WR wooden station building and goods shed were demolished.
On 28 September 1992 the station was renamed ''Hanborough''.
Toward the end of the 1990s the number of passengers slowly increased, until reaching an estimated total of almost 63,000 in 1999–2000.
21st century
Passenger numbers fluctuated until 2005–06, when the
Office of the Rail Regulator
The Rail Regulator was a statutory office, created with effect from 1 December 1993 by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993, for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry.
The office was abolished from 4 July 2004, using ...
estimated that the total number for that year was just above 70,000. The number of passengers increased rapidly to 2015-16 was more than 271,000, but fell back to 224,000 following the opening of Oxford Parkway before recovering to 275,000 in 2019-20.
More than 250 passengers a day come by car, but the original car park had only 50 spaces and by 2011 it had been overwhelmed. In August 2011
First Great Western
Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.green field site next to the station that would provide new homes and a new 191-space car park. This was officially opened in July 2013, by which time it was already more than half-full each weekday. In November 2014 the Cotswold Line Promotion Group found 204 vehicles parked in the 191-space second car park and reported that it ''"was being used beyond capacity on most weekdays"''.
Plans were announced to increase services from Hanborough Station, by Great Western Railway. A launch event was held in Witney, at which GWR's managing director Mark Hopwood said that the investment needed was £275 million. Double tracking would be reinstated between North Oxford and Long Hanborough and two disused platforms reopened. The local constituency MP and Prime Minister David Cameron told delegates at the meeting " am utterly convinced of the necessity of investing in this line. I will do everything I can to give this vision a boost"
A new ticket office was officially opened in August 2019 as part of a £315,000 investment in the station. This will be open on weekdays.
802
Year 802 ( DCCCII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* October 31 – Empress Irene is deposed after a 5-year reign, and banishe ...
bi-mode trains.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 1 tph to
London Paddington
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 ...