Thatcham railway station

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Thatcham National Rail
265px
Train leaving platform 2 towards Reading
Location
Place Thatcham
Local authority West Berkshire
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Grid reference SU528663
Operations
Station code THA
Managed by Great Western Railway
Number of platforms 2
DfT category E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03   0.406 million
2004/05 Increase 0.436 million
2005/06 Increase 0.455 million
2006/07 Increase 0.489 million
2007/08 Increase 0.523 million
2008/09 Increase 0.529 million
2009/10 Decrease 0.500 million
2010/11 Increase 0.505 million
2011/12 Decrease 0.500 million
2012/13 Increase 0.533 million
2013/14 Decrease 0.522 million
History
Key dates Opened 21 December 1847 (21 December 1847)
Original company Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping GWR
Post-grouping GWR
National RailUK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Thatcham from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Thatcham railway station is a railway station in Thatcham, Berkshire, England. The station is served by Great Western Railway local services from Reading to Newbury and Bedwyn. Most services are operated by Class 165 DMUs, of either 2 car or 3 car units. It was served before privatisation by Network SouthEast and from 1996 until 2004 by Thames Trains. A limited semi-fast FGW InterCity 125 service between London and Exeter St Davids, Westbury, Taunton, Frome and Penzance also serves the station.

Services

Thatcham station is served by GWR local services from Reading to Newbury and from London Paddington to Bedwyn. A limited number of services starting from Reading continue to Bedwyn. It is also served by limited semi-fast InterCity 125 services from Paddington to the West Country.

These services are summarised as follows.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Theale   Great Western Railway
HST services
Reading to Taunton line
  Newbury
Theale   Great Western Railway
Paddington to Bedwyn
Local services
Reading to Taunton line
  Newbury
Midgham   Great Western Railway
Reading to Newbury
Local services
Reading to Taunton line
  Newbury Racecourse

History

Thatcham station was opened on 21 December 1847 as part of the Berks and Hants Line to Hungerford.[1] Traffic through the station increased when the line was extended to Taunton in 1906. The station remained as part of the Great Western Railway (GWR) until railway nationalisation in 1948. After the sectorisation of British Rail in 1982 the station became part of Network South East until the privatisation of British Rail. From 1996 services were provided by Thames Trains until the franchise was merged with First Great Western.

Thatcham Ordnance Depot

In 1940 the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment of the United States Army built an ordnance depot next to the main line just west of the station. This included a number of sidings that were used for the delivery of equipment.[2] After the Second World War the site was developed as a base for what later became the Royal Logistics Corps and had a number of steam locomotives used for shunting.[citation needed]

The base was closed in 1999 and its site has now been developed as a housing estate.[3]

Current Layout

Thatcham station has two platforms, one on each side of the main line. At the western end of the station there is a footbridge over the line.[4] At the western end of the platform there is a level crossing.

On the up platform is a ticket office that is open Mondays to Saturdays and two access points to the station car park. On the north side of the line west of the station is a Royal Mail sorting office next to where the ordnance depot used to be.

On the down platform is a small shelter and access to a small car park. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs parallel to the station and can be reached from the road at the western end of the station.

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. Thatcham Town Council timeline
  4. National Rail Enquiries Information. Accessed 2 September 2007.

External links