Salisbury TMD is the South Western Railway

traction maintenance depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England, situated on the north side of

Salisbury railway station Salisbury railway station serves the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. It is from on the West of England line to . This is crossed by the Wessex Main Line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. The station is operated and s ...

. It opened in 1992 to maintain the fleet of

DMUs A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

used on the

West of England line The West of England line (also known as the West of England Main Line) is a British railway line from , Hampshire, to in Devon, England. Passenger services run between London Waterloo station and Exeter; the line intersects with the Wessex Ma ...

History

The depot is built on the site of the former

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 ...

(GWR) station, opened in 1856. A two-road engine shed was provided on the south side of the site but was moved westwards in 1899 to allow 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 ...

(LSWR) to expand their adjacent station. This company originally had an engine shed at their Milford station on the opposite side of the city from 1847, which was relocated to a site opposite the GWR shed when the LSWR opened their new station in 1859. This three-road shed was closed around 1901 and moved to a new larger site further west from the station at Cherry Orchard Lane. This new facility had ten roads. It closed in June 1967 but was used to store withdrawn locomotives for a short time. By 1987 the site was a stabling point, usually for Classes 08, 09 and 33. The replacement of Class 50 locomotive-hauled trains on the

West of England Main Line The West of England line (also known as the West of England Main Line) is a British railway line from , Hampshire, to in Devon, England. Passenger services run between London Waterloo station and Exeter; the line intersects with the Wessex M ...

by Class 159 DMUs in 1992 meant that a new maintenance facility was required. It was decided to build a brand new depot at Salisbury, midway between the two ends of the route at

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

and .

Fleet

Salisbury TMD 159003 159017 159022 158887 960012

The depot maintains the

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s used on the

and other South Western Railway routes: * 30 three-car Class 159 * 11 two-car Class 158

References

Sources

* *{{cite book, title=British Rail Depot Directory, year=1987, first1=Neil, last1=Webster, first2=Robert, last2=Greengrass, first3=Simon, last3=Greaves, publisher=Metro Enterprises Ltd., isbn=9780947773076, oclc=20420397 Railway depots in England Rail transport in Wiltshire TMD