Westerleigh Junction is a railway junction in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

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 ...

, where the

Cross Country Route A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

(XCR) from 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 ...

meets the

South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...

(SWML) from

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 ...

to , near the village of Westerleigh. The junction is located between the stations of , and .

Description

The junction provides access from the SWML to the west and the XCR to the north. The lines cross Westerleigh Road in separate bridges, with a bridge over the old Bristol and Gloucester Railway, now a single line to a Murco depot, just to the west of the junction. The South Wales Main Line section of the junction 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 ...

with

25 kV AC Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The dev ...

overhead lines as part of the 21st Century upgrade of the Great Western Main Line.

History

The junction originated in 1903, when the Great Western Railway opened the Badminton Line, the direct route of the South Wales Main Line. The junction connected the eastbound SWML to the northbound

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

(now part of the XCR), which had opened in 1844 as the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. The junction provided a route from Bristol to the Midland Railway via Filton Junction, an alternative to the direct Midland Railway route through

Mangotsfield Mangotsfield is an urban area and former village in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, to the north-east of Bristol. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 ...

. In 1908 a curve was added to the junction to connect the westbound SWML to the northbound Midland Railway.The Chronology, Doug Edwards
/ref> This provided a connection from Bristol to Sharpness via Berkeley. It also gave an alternative route between Bristol and South Wales via the

Severn Railway Bridge The Severn Railway Bridge (historically called the Severn Bridge) was a bridge carrying the railway across the River Severn between Sharpness and Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 1870s by the Severn Bridge Railway Co ...

, used when the

Severn Tunnel The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Western ...

was closed. A more contentious use was that it now gave the GWR, with its running powers over the Midland to Berkeley and its own new 1906 line from Cheltenham to Birmingham, a new direct route from Bristol to Birmingham. On 1 July 1908, a new express service between Wolverhampton and Bristol was inaugurated, hauled by ''Flower'' class 4101 ''Aurricula''. The Midland resisted this new service and claimed that the loop had only been agreed on the basis of services to Berkeley and the Severn, not northwards. Various tactics were used to disrupt competing services, including slow trains scheduled ahead of GWR expresses. The matter came to court, but in November the Court of Appeal finally ruled that the GWR did have running powers northwards. Despite this, the Midland remained disruptive. In particular they refused to allow heavier locomotives, like the new 4-6-0s, over Stonehouse ViaductStonehouse Viaduct
/ref> and so this remained the preserve of the 4-4-0 ''Counties''. The curve was removed after the Severn Railway Bridge was irreparably damaged in 1960. In 1970 the original route of the Bristol and Gloucester Railway was closed between Bristol and Westerleigh Junction, except for the short section now serving the Murco depot.

References

{{coord, 51.5207, -2.4355, region:GB-SGC_type:landmark, display=title Transport in South Gloucestershire District South Wales Main Line Rail junctions in England