Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line
railway in
Great Britain, corresponding to the principal routes of the pre-1948
Great Western Railway which were subsequently taken over by the Western Region of
British Railways and are now operated by
First Great Western.
The original Great Western Main Line runs from
London Paddington via
Reading,
Swindon,
Bath,
Bristol Temple Meads and
Exeter to
Plymouth.
The route that diverges at Wootton Bassett near
Swindon to
Bristol Parkway, the
Severn Tunnel,
Newport,
Cardiff and
Swansea, known as the South Wales Main Line, is also part of the Great Western Main Line, as is the Berks and Hants Line,
Encyclopedia
The
Great Western Main Line is a main line
railway in
Great Britain, corresponding to the principal routes of the pre-1948
Great Western Railway which were subsequently taken over by the Western Region of
British Railways and are now operated by
First Great Western.
The original Great Western Main Line runs from
London Paddington via
Reading,
Swindon,
Bath,
Bristol Temple Meads and
Exeter to
Plymouth.
The route that diverges at Wootton Bassett near
Swindon to
Bristol Parkway, the
Severn Tunnel,
Newport,
Cardiff and
Swansea, known as the South Wales Main Line, is also part of the Great Western Main Line, as is the
Berks and Hants Line, diverging at Reading to reach Exeter more directly via
Newbury, Westbury and
Castle Cary.
The main lines between Paddington and Bristol are capable of supporting 125mph operation, having been upgraded during the
1970s to support the introduction of the Intercity 125 .
The line is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead between Paddington and the junction with the line to Heathrow Airport, and is one of only two lines in the UK to be equipped with the Automatic Train Protection system, the other being the Chiltern Main Line.
Routes in detail
London to Plymouth via Bristol
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...
diverges to Yeovil,
Salibury and
London Waterloo ...
to Plymouth via north Dartmoor.
Reading to Taunton
Note: Most direct London-Plymouth trains use this route.
Cornish Main Line
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External links
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...
[i]
...
and RNAS Culdrose
Note: The section of line between St Austell and Truro has recently been upgraded to double track, to allow better timekeeping and reduce delays to services.
