Newbury railway station
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Newbury railway station is located in the centre of the town of Newbury, in the English county of
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 ...
. The station is from the zero point at . It is served by stopping services between and Newbury and , and by faster services between and and other parts of
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
and
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. All train services at the station are operated by the
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 was once a junction with the now-defunct north–south
Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Mid ...
. It was also the junction for the also defunct
Lambourn Valley Railway The Lambourn Valley Railway (LVR) was a branch railway line running from the town of Newbury, Berkshire north-west to the village of Lambourn. It was opened in 1898. Fulfilling a local need, it was in financial difficulties throughout its ind ...
.


History


Line opening

Newbury station was opened on 21 December 1847 as part of the
Berks and Hants Railway The Berks and Hants Railway comprised two railway lines built simultaneously by the Great Western Railway (GWR) south and west from in an attempt to keep the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) out of the area that it considered to be its ...
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 ...
to
Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
. Newbury was an important junction on the
Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Mid ...
(DN&SR), the first section of which opened between
Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading. The town is noted for its railway heritage, Di ...
and Newbury in 1881. The route to
Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
was then opened in 1885 but it was not until 1891 that a route to
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
was completed. However, the route did not include the planned independent Southampton terminus and instead used the terminus owned by the
London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
. In 1898 the
Lambourn Valley Railway The Lambourn Valley Railway (LVR) was a branch railway line running from the town of Newbury, Berkshire north-west to the village of Lambourn. It was opened in 1898. Fulfilling a local need, it was in financial difficulties throughout its ind ...
(LVR) was opened which ran from the west of the station to
Lambourn Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of ra ...
, north-west of Newbury. Trains to Lambourn started from the bay on the north platform at its western end.


Station expansion

By 1890 Newbury was an important station and junction. There were two lines through the station covered by an overall roof, plus a footbridge,
turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
, goods yard and two bay platforms. However, the expansion of the DN&SR and the later opening of the LVR created a bottleneck in Newbury, especially for express trains on the Reading to Plymouth line. Between 1908 and 1910 the station was rebuilt to extend the platforms and create two loops to ensure trains stopping at the station did not block the line for express and freight trains. Red brick was used for the new station buildings which are still in use today. A new footbridge was built across the station. The expansion also included the building of two signal boxes, one at each end of the station. It was possible to hear the bells in these boxes ringing from a point mid-way along the main platforms. Access to the yard became possible from the Down and Up through lines and the main Up (north) platform.


Line closures

The 1960s saw the closure of both the DN&SR and the LVR due to declining passenger and freight traffic on both lines. Regular local services southwards to Winchester ended in March 1960 and those northwards to Didcot in September 1962. The last passenger train to use the DN&SR ran in May 1964, a rerouted express train resulting from a derailment at . The tracks were lifted in 1967.
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways (BR) withdrew LVR passenger services on 4 January 1960 but freight services continued to serve
RAF Welford Royal Air Force Welford or more simply RAF Welford is an active Royal Air Force station in Berkshire, England. The station is located approximately northwest of Newbury; about west-southwest of London Opened in 1943, it was used during the Se ...
into the 1970s. When the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
decided it no longer needed to use the rail link it handed control back to BR in 1973. One last passenger special operated on the line in November of that year before the line was totally closed and the track later lifted. As a result of the closure of the LVR the bay platform on the north side at the western end of the station was no longer needed and the track was removed. The bay on the south side remained in use into the 1970s for recessing local trains to Bedwyn until a "down" express had passed (the local train would reverse into the bay, to leave the main down platform free for an express to call, thus allowing passengers disembarking from the express to board the local train for onward travel towards Bedwyn). The south bay was later removed when the station was resignalled and the track layout altered to allow down expresses to serve the north side platform. Both west end bays are now car parks. The sole east end bay on the north side of the line is maintained for use for eastbound passenger services starting at Newbury. Locally it is still called "the Compton bay" because of its original purpose on the DN&SR.


Electrification and modernisation

In December 2018, Newbury became the western limit of electrification from Reading, as part of the Great Western electrification scheme. To prepare the station for electrification, it was announced that the station would benefit from a £6 million upgrade to improve connections for pedestrians and public transport users. A new footbridge was completed in May 2018 allowing disabled access across the platforms, replacing the old footbridge which was dismantled in June 2018 after nearly 110 years of service. Electrical wire gantries have also been erected over the station canopies, which were cut back for the removal of the footbridge.


Future

In June 2021, Great Western Railway submitted plans for a redevelopment of the station, that would see the ticket gates brought inside, new business units, a new
multistorey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...
, and a second
bicycle parking station A bicycle parking station, or bicycle garage, is a building or structure designed for use as a bicycle parking facility. Such a facility can be as simple as a lockable bike cage or shed or as complex as a purpose-built multi-level building: the ...
.


Description


Station layout

The current station has two through platforms, both on loops off the main line, leaving two through tracks running through the middle of the station. There is also a bay platform on the north east side for short trains to and from Reading. These parts of the station layout have all survived from the expansion of the station in 1908. The platform access was converted to entry by ticket through automatic barriers early in 2013. The north (Up) platform has provision for trains to call in either direction. This facility is not frequently used in the current timetable except during periods of severe line congestion to avoid delays, however, it was not uncommon for Down trains to call on this platform in the past. The signalling also allows for the station to continue operating when the south (Down) platform is closed for any reason. To the east of the station there is a siding on the Up line. It is still commonly used for storing engineering units. Local services sometimes use it to allow passengers wishing to travel to intervening stations to connect from inter-city services. Also to the east of the station, on the Down line is a loop which also runs through
Newbury Racecourse railway station Newbury Racecourse railway station serves the East Fields area of the town of Newbury, Berkshire, England, and the adjacent Newbury Racecourse. It is measured from . It was opened on 26 September 1905. As the station is next to the racecours ...
which is used regularly as a passing point by freight trains and also by local services in the same way as the sidings on the north side. This loop is also used by local services calling at Newbury Racecourse during race days. Special chartered trains hauled by
steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
often use the loop to take on water because it has good road access although the Down platform in Newbury station can also be used for this purpose. All trains that pass through the loop must continue through the loop for the Down platform to rejoin the mainline. The station is now signalled with colour light signals controlled from Thames Valley Signalling Centre in Didcot.


Station facilities

Newbury station is 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's facilities include a staffed ticket office open on weekdays and weekends; car parks on both sides of the station; covered bicycle storage; taxi rank; toilets and a shop on Platform 2 and waiting rooms on both main platforms.


Services

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 ...
operate an hourly (Mon-Sat) semi-fast regional service between and that calls here, along with a local stopping service to/from (also hourly) calling at all intermediate stations. In the early morning & mid/late evening, these are combined into a single Reading to Bedwyn service. Additional long-distance services run to
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 ...
, Exeter St Davids,
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 ...
,
Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...
,
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
and
Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...
. Most of these services run in the evening, though there are also a number of daytime workings.


Service history

The station was part of the Great Western Railway until Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948. After the sectorisation of
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
in 1982 the station became part of
Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the netwo ...
and was also a stop on the InterCity network. From 1996 until 2004 services were provided by
Thames Trains Thames Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Go-Ahead that operated the Thames Trains franchise from October 1996 until March 2004. History The Thames Trains franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Ra ...
, and then from 2004 to 2006 services were provided by
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 ...
. Since 2006 services have been provided 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 rebranded from
First Great Western Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city ...
.


References


External links

{{Railway stations in Berkshire Railway stations in Berkshire DfT Category C1 stations Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1847 Railway stations served by Great Western Railway
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 ...
1847 establishments in England