Ascot railway station

For the railway station in Ascot, Brisbane, Australia, see Ascot railway station, Brisbane.
Ascot National Rail
Location
Place Ascot
Local authority Windsor and Maidenhead
Grid reference SU921682
Operations
Station code ACT
Managed by South West Trains
Number of platforms 3
DfT category C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11 Increase 1.084 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.262 million
2011/12 Increase 1.140 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.299 million
2012/13 Increase 1.144 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.300 million
2013/14 Increase 1.179 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.310 million
2014/15 Increase 1.226 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.319 million
History
4 June 1856 Station opens
1 February 1857 Name changed to Ascot and Sunninghill
10 July 1921 Name changed to Ascot
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ascot from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Ascot railway station is a railway station in the town of Ascot in Berkshire, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South West Trains. It is at the junction of the Waterloo to Reading line with the Ascot to Guildford line.

The station has three tracks and four platform faces. The London-bound track is a single track with platform faces on either side, both of which are called Platform 1. Until some time prior to 2008, both faces could be used to board London-bound trains, but now only the doors on the ticket office side of the train open, possibly due to safety worries relating to the third rail being on the other side or the ability of staff to monitor both sides of departing trains. Platform 2 serves the Reading-bound line, and Platform 3 serves the Guildford line for trains starting and terminating their journeys at Ascot. Where trains are running from London through to Guildford, or vice versa, they use Platform 2. All lines are bi-directional.

History

The Staines, Wokingham and Woking Junction Railway opened the station when it reached Ascot on 4 June 1856. On 9 July the line was extended to Wokingham. On 18 March 1878[1] Ascot became a junction when the line towards Ash Vale was opened. Later the London and South Western Railway took over the SWWJR. In the Grouping of 1923 the L&SWR became part of the Southern Railway, which electrified both lines using a third rail system on 1 January 1939. Under nationalisation in 1948 Ascot station became part of the Southern Region of British Railways.

The L&SWR opened Ascot Race Course Platform or Ascot West in 1922 to serve Ascot Racecourse. BR closed it in 1965.[1]

Ascot had four signal boxes until the 1960s - "A" and "B" boxes controlled the main station, West box controlled the racecourse station and "Drake & Mount's Siding" the carriage sidings east of the station.[2][3][4] The line through the station is now under the control of the panel box at Feltham.

When BR sectorised itself in the 1980s, the station was made part of Network SouthEast.

In 1982 a fire severely damaged the station buildings on the "up" (London-bound) side.[5]

Services

Ascot is served by trains between London Waterloo and Reading with a basic service every 30 minutes Monday to Sunday (there are more frequent trains in the morning and evening peaks – around 4 per hour). Trains to Guildford via Aldershot operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 60 minutes on Sundays. Most of these trains start or terminate at Ascot, but there are through trains from London Waterloo to Aldershot during Monday to Friday peak periods.[6]

During Royal Ascot week, train services from London Waterloo to Reading through Ascot are significantly increased, with trains running every 15 mins in either direction.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Sunningdale   South West Trains
Waterloo to Reading Line		   Martins Heron
Terminus   South West Trains
Ascot to Guildford Line		   Bagshot

Notes

  1. 1 2 Body 1984, p. 36
  2. ↑ Ascot 'A' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; Retrieved 13 April 2016
  3. ↑ Ascot 'B' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; Retrieved 13 April 2016
  4. ↑ Ascot West Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; Retrieved 13 April 2016
  5. ↑ Body 1984, p. 35.
  6. ↑ GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 149 (Network Rail)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ascot railway station.

Coordinates: 51°24′22″N 0°40′34″W / 51.406°N 0.676°W / 51.406; -0.676

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.