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Didcot Parkway railway station

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Didcot Parkway is a railway station serving Didcot, a town in Oxfordshire, England. The station was opened as Didcot on 12 June 1844[1] and was renamed Didcot Parkway on 29 July 1985 by British Rail,[1] to reflect its role as a park and ride railhead. It is 53 miles 10 chains (53.13 mi; 85.5 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Cholsey to the east and Swindon to the west.[2]

Didcot Parkway
National Rail
The front of Didcot Parkway station in November 2020.
General information
LocationDidcot, District of South Oxfordshire
England
Coordinates51°36′43″N 1°14′37″W / 51.61197°N 1.24348°W / 51.61197; -1.24348
Grid referenceSU525905
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Platforms5
Other information
Station codeDID
ClassificationDfT category B
History
Original companyGreat Western Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
1844Opened
1962Line to Newbury closes to passengers
1985Renamed Didcot Parkway
Passengers
2019/20Increase 3.339 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.596 million
2020/21Decrease 0.584 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.101 million
2021/22Increase 2.024 million
 Interchange Increase 0.361 million
2022/23Increase 2.330 million
 Interchange Increase 0.546 million
2023/24Increase 2.546 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.545 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station is a stop on local services operated by Great Western Railway between Reading and Oxford, and by main line services from Paddington to the south-west of England and south Wales.

Just to the north of the station is the Didcot Railway Centre, which is accessed through the station. The centre is a comprehensive exhibition of original Great Western Railway rolling stock, with demonstration running tracks and including a reconstructed station named Didcot Halt.

History

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The railway has run through Didcot since 1 June 1840, when the Great Western Railway extended its main line from Reading to Steventon. During this period a stagecoach transported passengers to Oxford from Steventon. A few weeks later the line was extended to Faringdon Road station near West Challow, and eventually to Bristol. On 12 June 1844 the line from Didcot to Oxford was opened and Didcot station was opened at the junction. The original intended route would have taken a line from Steventon to Oxford via Abingdon, but Abingdon's townspeople objected to this idea.[3] Otherwise, it is unlikely that Didcot would have evolved into the town it is today, as its initial growth was prompted by the coming of the railway.

The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&S) linked Didcot with Newbury, carrying services to Southampton via Newbury, Highclere, Winchester and Eastleigh. In its latter years it was reduced to a rural backwater before its closure just before the Beeching cuts. The DN&S was closed to passengers on 10 September 1962 and to freight in 1967. At the eastern end of Platform 1, there is a raised section of the east car park, which used to be the bay platform for the DN&S line.

On 7 December 1964, local passenger services between Didcot and Swindon were withdrawn and the stations at Steventon, Wantage Road, Challow, Uffington, Shrivenham and Stratton Park were closed.[4][5]

In 1985, a new main building for the station was built along with a new 600-space car park on the site of the former provender store to the west of the station for Park and Ride use. These were opened on 29 July 1985 by David Mitchell MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, and on that date the station was renamed Didcot Parkway.[6]

In 2018, a multi-storey car park was opened, costing £20 million and increasing the number of spaces by 65% to 1800. The car park also has a sheltered footbridge.[7]

In 2021, a new cycle storage hub was constructed, providing 600 covered spaces, LED lighting, CCTV cameras and a bike repair station. The project cost £1m, and was completed by a partnership of GWR, DfT and Network Rail.[8]

Stationmasters

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  • John Peach 1860 - 1865[9] (formerly station master at Hungerford, afterwards station master at Reading)
  • George Bland 1868 - 1872[10]
  • Henry Maggs 1872 - 1878[11] (formerly station master at Dorchester West, afterwards station master at Newton Abbot)
  • Henry Larkcom/Larkam 1878 - 1881[12] (formerly station master at Lydney, afterwards station master at Reading)
  • Charles William Noble 1881 - 1882 (formerly station master at Stourbridge, afterwards station master at Birmingham)
  • H.C. Evans ca. 1885 - 1908[13]
  • J. Short 1908 - 1912[14] (afterwards station master at Banbury)
  • Thomas Frederick Edwin Jakeman 1916[15] - 1917 (afterwards station master at Dorchester West)
  • Arthur Meddows Taylor ca 1928 - 1930 (formerly station master at Stroud, afterwards station master at Swindon)
  • T.G. Curnow 1930 - ca. 1941
  • William Ferguson Brown 1950[16] - 1956 (afterwards station master at Reading)
  • R. Hyatt ca. 1960

Layout

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Platforms

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A GWR Class 800 from Swansea arriving on Platform 2

The station is located just to the north of the town centre in Didcot. It can only be accessed by car from Station Road itself on the south side of the railway, although passengers may park in Foxhall Road Long Stay Car Park, situated on Basil Hill Road, and cross a footbridge to the station. The station entrance is at road level; platforms 2-5 may be accessed by lifts, while platform 1 may be accessed from the ramp to the left of the station building near the taxi rank. All services are operated by Great Western Railway.

Junctions and yards

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Railways around Didcot
Legend
 
Great Western Main Line
to Paddington
Moreton Junction
 
Main to relief line crossovers
 
 
Didcot, Newbury &
Southampton Railway
 
 
 
Didcot East Junction
 
 
 
 
 Didcot Parkway
Didcot Railway Centre
 
 
 
 
 
Didcot West Junction
Cherwell Valley line
to Oxford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Didcot North Junction
 
Foxhall Junction
 
Didcot Power Station
 
 
 
 
Milton Park
 
 
 
Great Western Main Line
to Swindon

Didcot is a junction between the Great Western Main Line (GWML) and the route to Oxford and the Midlands. A marshalling yard is opposite platform 5[17] and another was once provided at Moreton, a little to the east. Moreton is still a junction, allowing trains to pass between the main lines on the south, and the relief and Oxford lines on the north. An avoiding line runs from Didcot East Junction, behind the marshalling yard and the Didcot Railway Centre, allowing trains to Oxford to run through without blocking the station platforms.[18] There also used to be another line at the East Junction which led to Newbury on the former DN&S railway. The track was lifted in 1967.[19]

 
Didcot Parkway frontage in 2008, before improvement work which began in 2012.

The junction at the west end of the station which is accessible from platforms 3, 4, and 5 (the Oxford bound platforms) is known as Chester Line Junction. This is so called because that was as far at the Great Western Railway could take you from here.[20][dubious – discuss]

West of the station is Foxhall Junction which allows freight trains from Oxford to travel towards Swindon. Immediately beyond this two goods lines diverge on the north side of the line. The first served a loop for Merry-go-round trains that used to deliver coal[21] to Didcot Power Station. The second serves the Milton Freight Terminal, though this line is not in regular use.[22] Beyond this the four main and relief lines merge into three at Foxhall Junction and after a small loop just before Steventon, the four lines pass under the A34 and become two lines as far as the old station at Wantage Road.[22]

Improvement programme 2012

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An improvement programme for the forecourt of the station began in September 2012 and ran for two years.[23] Key features include:

  • Larger taxi rank with covered waiting area
  • Dedicated drop-off and pick-up area
  • Short-stay waiting bays
  • Disabled parking with step-free access
  • Secure cycle parking and motorcycle parking
  • Pedestrian piazza with seating and a glazed atrium and walkways
  • Extra bus stops with electronic real-time information
  • An improved East Car Park
  • Better security with CCTV and new lighting
  • New drainage to alleviate flooding
  • Completion of a cycle route serving the station

Electrification

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As part of the 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line, the GWML was electrified to just west of Didcot Parkway in January 2018.[24] It was extended west to Swindon in November 2018. It was originally proposed that the Oxford line also be electrified, however cost overruns resulted in this being deferred.[25] As a result, Didcot Parkway has seen an increase in the number of terminating services with Class 387s electric multiple units connecting at Didcot with British Rail Class 165 / 166 diesel multiple units.

Services

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Didcot is a major junction, where the (Great Western Railway-built) line to Oxford, Birmingham New Street and further north leaves the GWML to Bristol Temple Meads via Swindon, Chippenham and Bath Spa also to Swansea via Bristol Parkway and Cardiff Central. There is no local service west of Didcot, so local service is exclusively provided by local trains taking the line to Oxford. However, a proportion of the main line services to Bristol and South Wales do stop here, with the remainder passing through the station non-stop. Fast trains to and from the Oxford line can avoid the station using the Didcot East curve.

A few trains, generally early morning weekday and Sunday services, call at Didcot for the Cotswold Line to Hereford. Infrequently trains to Weston-super-Mare and further south-west call at this station.

Didcot Parkway was served by some CrossCountry services until 2003 when Virgin CrossCountry ceased to call at the station, with all services using the Didcot East curve to and from the Oxford line. As at December 2018, one late night CrossCountry service from Reading to Birmingham New Street passes through Didcot Parkway to allow drivers to retain route knowledge. Passenger services on the West Curve ceased after Thames Trains Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads service was withdrawn in 2003.

Didcot Parkway was planned to be on East West Rail, connecting the GWML, Chiltern Main Line, West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line and Greater Anglia together. It was planned that people will change here for connections to/from Bristol Temple Meads and South Wales.[26] As of 2020, services were not planned to extend beyond Oxford.[27] An hourly service to/from Bristol was recommended in the June 2021 Oxfordshire Rail Corridor Study (page 8, diagram for morning peak), as well as an hourly service between Banbury and Bristol.

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
Fast Services
Great Western Railway
Stopping Services
Terminus
TerminusGreat Western Railway
Historical railways
Line open, station closed
Great Western Railway
Line open, station closed
Great Western Railway
Line and station open
Disused railways
TerminusGreat Western Railway
Line and station closed

Accidents and incidents

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  • On 13 February 1861, a passenger train ran into the rear of a freight train at Didcot Junction. The guard of the freight train had failed to adequately protect the rear of his train.[28]
  • On 26 September 1873, a freight train was derailed whilst being shunted to allow a passenger train to pass.[29]
  • On 6 January 1932 a milk train and a freight train collided at Didcot East. The locomotive of the milk train, GWR 2800 Class 2-8-0 No. 2808, was derailed and six tankers were slightly damaged. Ten wagons of the freight were wrecked and seventeen more were damaged. The milk train had overrun a danger signal.[30]
  • On 14 August 1964 LMS Stanier Class 8F locomotive 48734 collided with a train of tank wagons at Didcot North Junction. Eleven of them were derailed and caught fire. The locomotive was severely damaged by the fire and was consequently scrapped.[31]
  • On 1 January 1966 a freight train was derailed.[32]
  • On 3 February 2007 a passenger train caught fire. All 400 passengers were evacuated.[33]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Butt 1995, p. 78.
  2. ^ Yonge, John; Padgett, David (August 2010) [1989]. Bridge, Mike (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western (5th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 3C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7.
  3. ^ Page, WH; Ditchfield, PH, eds. (1927). "The borough of Abingdon". A History of the County of Berkshire. Victoria County History. Vol. 4. London: The St Katherine Press. pp. 430–451.
  4. ^ "Wantage Road station and Oxfordshire's lost railway". BBC. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  5. ^ Wilkinson, Ben (6 June 2012). "Wantage could get new station". Oxford Mail. Newsquest. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  6. ^ Slater, John, ed. (October 1985). "Didcot adds Parkway". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 131, no. 1014. Sutton: Transport Press. p. 481. ISSN 0033-8923.
  7. ^ "Didcot's new multi-storey car park 'almost complete'". Oxford Mail. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Didcot Parkway station to benefit from brand new bike hub". RailAdvent. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  9. ^ "1835-1910 Clerks Vol.5". Great Western Railway Operating, Miscellaneous Depts: 27. 1835. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Testimonial to the Station Master at Didcot". Oxford Times. England. 13 January 1872. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Didcot". Reading Mercury. England. 12 October 1878. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "Railway Changes". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. England. 5 March 1881. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Presentation to the late Stationmaster at Didcot". Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette. England. 25 December 1908. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "Promotion of the Didcot Station Master". Witney Gazette and West Oxfordshire Advertiser. England. 16 March 1912. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "Goring. Presentation to the late Goring Stationmaster". Reading Mercury. England. 4 March 1916. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "Stationmaster retires to Isle of Wight". Reading Standard. England. 9 January 1959. Retrieved 27 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ Shannon, Paul (November 2010). "Wagonload - The End?". Railways Illustrated (93): 59. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  18. ^ Bridge, Mike (2010). Railway Track Diagrams. Bradford-On-Avon: Trackmaps. p. 3C. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  19. ^ "Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Grace's. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  20. ^ LeVay, Benedict (2014). Britain From the Rails. Bradt. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-84162-919-3.
  21. ^ "Didcot A Power Station switched off after 43 years". BBC. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  22. ^ a b Bridge, Mike (2010). Railway Track Diagrams - Western. Bradford-On-Avon: Trackmaps. p. 4A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  23. ^ "Didcot Station - Latest Developments - South Oxfordshire District Council". Southoxon.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  24. ^ UK railway round-up
  25. ^ "Great Western electrification projects deferred". Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Mainline Connections - East West Rail". East West Rail. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  27. ^ "FAQ - East West Rail". East West Rail. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  28. ^ Tyler, H. W. (15 March 1861). "Great Western Railway" (PDF). Board of Trade.
  29. ^ "Friday's Railway Accidents". The Times. No. 27806. London. 27 September 1873. col B, p. 8.
  30. ^ Anderson, EP (26 February 1932). "Great Western Railway" (PDF). Board of Trade.
  31. ^ Kelly, Pat (15 July 2016). "While Didcot slept". Steam Railway. No. 456. Peterborough: Bauer Consumer Media Ltd. pp. 50–52. ISSN 0143-7232.
  32. ^ "Derailment inquiry demand by M.P.s". The Times. No. 56535. London. 21 January 1966. col D, p. 6.
  33. ^ "Fire crews battle blaze on train". BBC News Online. 3 February 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2016.

References

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  • Butt, RVJ (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
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