The Staines–Windsor line is a suburban railway line in England which branches from the

Waterloo to Reading Line Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

at Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey and runs to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

in Berkshire. Passenger services on the line are operated by South Western Railway.

History

The line from Richmond through to was opened on 22 August 1848 by the Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway under the auspices of 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 ...

(L&SWR) and reached Windsor on 1 December 1849. The line was

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

in 1930 at 660 V DC (since raised to 750 V) on the

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...

system by the Southern Railway. In the late 1890s, a 3/4 mile single-track branch line was constructed across Staines Moor to supply fuel to a

Metropolitan Water Board The Metropolitan Water Board was a municipal body formed in 1903 to manage the water supply in London, UK. The members of the board were nominated by the local authorities within its area of supply. In 1904 it took over the water supply functi ...

pumping station. Use of the line had ceased by 1955 and the track has since been lifted.

Connections to Staines West branch

The L&SWR opposed connection with the Staines West branch but three separate connections have existed. The earliest was through the sidings of the Staines Linoleum Company and would have required use of turntables or reversals to pass wagons between the lines. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

a single track spur was laid from just south of facing up on the Staines to Windsor Line as a diversionary route should cross-London routes be blocked by bombing; this link existed from 23 June 1940 to 16 December 1947 but was little used. The last, laid in 1981 when the Staines West branch was severed by the M25 motorway, was to an oil terminal built in the former goods yard of Staines West station and lasted until 1991.

Services

The service frequency is two trains per hour in each direction every day except early on Sunday mornings when it is one per hour. From Windsor to London Waterloo takes about 55 minutes, some 20 minutes longer than the quickest journeys 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 ...

from the other station at Windsor, Windsor & Eton Central, although according to Network Rail timetables, the journey time to many central London locations is similar from both stations. The Sunday service is roughly the same, but limited services pass through Wraysbury and Sunnymeads without stopping on this day. Services on the line run beyond Staines to London Waterloo, running a fast service which calls at these stations: * Ashford * * * * Richmond * * *

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

* London Waterloo

Rolling stock

Services are normally operated by Class 458/5s and Class 707s, although Class 455s are occasionally used too. Trains run with 8 or 10 cars, but sometimes run with 4 or 5 cars. The platforms at Sunnymeads and Datchet are too short for the long trains. At these stations selective door opening is used to prevent passengers alighting from the rearmost coaches.

Proposed enhancements

A 2008 proposal was for the AirTrack scheme to provide a new link to Heathrow, including a station near the site of the former Staines High Street railway station.Heathrow Airtrack. ''Consultation Brochure 2.'' October 2008, p7. Although Airtrack was dropped by BAA, it has not died altogether as in 2011 Wandsworth Council proposed 'AirTrack Lite' and in September 2013, the Airports Commission wrote to the Department for Transport saying: The

Windsor Link Railway The Windsor Link Railway was a proposed new railway in Windsor, Berkshire, connecting the Great Western and South Western franchise areas and linking both to London Heathrow Airport. George Bathurst originally proposed the plan in 2009 as ...

also proposes a solution for southern rail access to

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

as well as linking to Slough via a tunnel in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staines-Windsor line Rail transport in Berkshire Railway lines opened in 1849 Railway lines in South East England 1849 establishments in England