Reading – Plymouth Railway

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Reading-Plymouth

Legend 0.00 London Paddington Great Western Main Line 36.00 Reading Great Western Main Line 37.00 Reading West Branch to Basingstoke 41.25 Theale 44.75 Aldermaston 46.75 Midgham 49.50 Thatcham 52.50 Newbury Racecourse 53.00 Newbury 58.50 Kintbury Hungerford Bedwyn Burbage freight yard Pewsey Woodborough Patney and Chirton Branch to Devizes Lavington Edington and Bratton Heywood Road Junction Wessex ML to Bath and Chippenham 95.50 Westbury Wessex Main Line to Salisbury Fairwood Junction Clink Road Junction Junction Watley Quarry Frome Blatchbridge Junction Junction to Cranmore (freight traffic only) Bruton 115.25 Castle Cary Heart of Wessex Line to Weymouth Alford stop Keinton Mandeville Charlton Marshall Somerton Long Sutton and Pitney Langport East Branch to Yeovil Athelney Durston Cogload Junction to the Bristol – Taunton Line Creech St Michael Chard Branch Line 164.00 Taunton Norton Fitzwarren West Somerset Railway and GW Barnstaple branch Wellington Beambridge Whiteball tunnel Burlescombe Tiverton Parkway Culm Valley Light Railway Tiverton Loops (Tiverton Junction) Tiverton Cullompton Hele and Bradninch Exe Valley Railway Silverton Stoke Canon Tarka Line to Barnstaple 173.75 Exeter St Davids West of England Main Line to London Waterloo 174.75 Exeter St Thomas Teign Valley Line to Heathfield City Basin freight railway Exminster 182.50 Starcross 184.25 Dawlish Warren 185.75 Dawlish 188.75 Teignmouth Hackney Yard Heathfield Branch (freight only) 193.75 Newton Abbot Aller Junction ( Riviera Line to Paignton ) Stoneycombe Quarry South Devon Railway Totnes (Littlehempston) 202.50 Totnes Junction to Kingsbidge Brent Wrangaton Bittaford Platform Redlake siding 214.00 Ivybridge originally Ivybridge station Cornwood Plympton Branch to Marsh Mills (freight traffic only) Laira TMD Laira Jn, branch to Plymouth Friary freight yard Laira Lipson Junction Lipson Vale Halt Mutley 225.75 Plymouth Cornish Main Line to Penzance

The Reading – Plymouth railway is a railway line in southern England . It branches off at Reading from the Great Western Main Line towards Plymouth , where it meets the Cornish Main Line . It was one of the main routes on the Great Western Railway before 1948 until it was taken over by British Railways and is now part of the Network Rail System.

The Reading to Taunton route (where it crosses the Bristol-Exeter line) opened in 1906. This saved the trains to Devon and Cornwall a detour via Bristol . The line from Exeter to Plymouth was built by the South Devon Railway some 60 years earlier . The first section was opened in 1844. The entire route was completed five years later.

From Exeter, the route runs along the River Exe to Dawlish Warren , where it runs along the South Devon Railway Sea Wall . It then follows the Teign after Newton Abbot . Here some trains branch off onto the branch line to Paignton , while the other trains which continue to Plymouth have to cope with several climbs and tight curves to cross the Dartmoor .

The maximum speed on this route is 177 km / h (110 mph). Electrification between Reading Station and Newbury Station is scheduled for 2016, with the electrification of the Great Western Main Line to Bristol, Cardiff , Swansea , and Oxford .

route

Crossed municipalities:

• Reading
• Theale
• Aldermaston
• Midgham
• Thatcham
• Newbury
• Kintbury
• Hungerford
• Great Bedwyn
• Pewsey
• Westbury
• Frome
• Bruton
• Castle Cary
• Taunton
• Exeter
• Starcross
• Dawlish Warren
• Dawlish
• Teignmouth
• Newton Abbot
• Torbay
• Totnes
• Ivybridge
• Plymouth

See also

• List of railway lines in Great Britain
• Rail transport in Great Britain