Mortimer railway station

Mortimer
Mortimer railway station, viewed from the footbridge.
Location
Place	Stratfield Mortimer
Local authority	West Berkshire
Grid reference	SU672641
Operations
Station code	MOR
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	0.180 million
2004/05	0.183 million
2005/06	0.175 million
2006/07	0.177 million
2007/08	0.182 million
2008/09	0.194 million
2009/10	0.184 million
2010/11	0.182 million
2011/12	0.191 million
2012/13	0.190 million
2013/14	0.178 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1 November 1848 (1 November 1848)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Mortimer from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

The station viewed from the adjacent road bridge

The station showing detail of the buildings

Mortimer railway station is a railway station in the village of Stratfield Mortimer in the county of Berkshire in England. The station is notable for its well-preserved Brunel-designed Great Western Railway (GWR) station buildings, which are still in use. The station is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway.

History

The station was opened in 1848, along with the Reading to Basingstoke railway line and both it, and the station buildings, have been in continuous use ever since. The line was promoted by the nominally independent Berks and Hants Railway, but this company was absorbed into the GWR two years before Mortimer station opened. The approval of the Duke of Wellington, who lived nearby at Stratfield Saye House was required for the station's construction.

After railway nationalisation in 1948, operation of the Reading to Basingstoke line, and management of the station, was passed to the Southern Region of British Railways (BR). BR undertook major renovations of the station buildings in time for the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the GWR, including removing the 1920s slates and replacing them with orange pantiles in the original style.

Following the privatisation of British Railways, the station is again served by trains running under the Great Western name.

Description

The station is on the double-track Reading to Basingstoke Line, and comprises two side platforms linked by a footbridge. Road access is to the north of the station, next to the up (Reading-bound) platform.

The brick-built single-storey main building has a ticket office and waiting room and is on the up platform. The down platform has a matching waiting shelter. Both buildings are Italianate, designed by Brunel for the GWR. They are the only substantially intact survivors of this, once common, design, although a much modified example exists at Chepstow. The buildings are listed Grade II*.

Services

The station is served by Great Western Railway Reading — Basingstoke local trains. There are generally two trains per hour in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays, and one train per hour on Sundays. Trains take 11 minutes to reach Reading, and 13 minutes to reach Basingstoke.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Reading West		Great Western Railway Reading to Basingstoke Line		Bramley

Fast passenger trains on CrossCountry services linking Scotland, the North of England and the Midlands with Southampton Central and Bournemouth, pass through the station without stopping. A significant number of freight trains pass through the station, mostly container trains for the Port of Southampton.

Culture

• The station appears briefly in the 1974 BBC Doctor Who serial Planet of the Spiders.
• The buildings were used as the basis for a model station produced by Tri-ang Railways.