Great Western Main Line

Great Western Main Line

Stations (from east to west)                 London Paddington   Slough   Reading Tilehurst Reading West Pangbourne Theale Goring & Streatley Aldermaston Cholsey Midgham Didcot Parkway Thatcham Swindon Newbury Racecourse Chippenham Newbury Bath Spa Kintbury Oldfield Park Hungerford Keysham Bedwyn Bristol Temple Meads ↓ Bedminster Pewsey Parson Street ↓ Nailsea & Backwell Westbury Yatton ↓ Worle Frome Weston Milton ↓ Weston-super-Mare Bruton Highbridge & Burnham    ↓ Bridgwater Castle Cary                 Taunton   Tiverton Parkway   Exeter St. Davids   Newton Abbot   Totnes   Ivybridge   Plymouth

The Great Western Main Line at Dawlish

The Great Western Main Line crosses the River Thames on Maidenhead Railway Bridge

The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in the United Kingdom, 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 (HST).

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 (ATP) system, the other being the Chiltern Main Line.

Further electrufucation of the Main Line would be difficult, since the size of the Severn Tunnel is too small to fit in overhead electric lines and without an extension to South Wales there would be insufficient traffic. Privatisation of the railways has also brought rail electrification in Britain to a virtual stop.

Routes in detail

London to Plymouth via Bristol

• London Paddington station, London
  • Branch to Heathrow Airport
• Slough
• Reading
  • Direct line diverges to Taunton (see below)
• Didcot Parkway
  • Line diverges to Oxford and Banbury
  • An avoiding line (Didcot East curve) links the Oxford Line to the main and relief lines at Didcot East
• Swindon
  • Golden Valley Line diverges to Stroud, Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa
• Wootton Bassett (closed)
  • South Wales Main Line diverges to Bristol Parkway and South Wales
• Chippenham
  • Line diverges to Westbury
  • Line passes through Box Tunnel
• Corsham (closed)
• Hampton Row Halt (closed)
• Bath Spa
• Twerton-on-Avon (closed)
• Saltford (closed)
• Keynsham
• Bristol Temple Meads
• Nailsea and Backwell
• Yatton
• Weston-super-Mare (there is also an avoiding line around the town)
• Highbridge, for Burnham-on-Sea
• Bridgwater
• Taunton
  • Connection with West Somerset Railway (a heritage railway)
• Tiverton Parkway
• Exeter St. Davids
  • West of England Main Line diverges to Yeovil, Salibury and London Waterloo
  • Avocet Line diverges to Exmouth
  • Tarka Line merges from Barnstaple, also the Okehampton stub of former West of England Main Line to Plymouth via north Dartmoor.
• Dawlish (coastal stretch notably vulnerable to flooding)
• Newton Abbot
  • Riviera Line diverges to Torquay and Paignton
• Totnes
  • Connection with South Devon Railway (a heritage railway)
• Plymouth

Reading to Taunton

• Reading
  • Line diverges to Basingstoke
• Newbury
• Bedwyn
• Pewsey
• Westbury
  • Wessex Main Line diverges to Salisbury and Southampton (South) or Bath Spa and Bristol Temple Meads (North)
  • There is also a link to Chippenham via Trowbridge and Melksham
• Frome
  • There is also an avoiding line around the town.
• Castle Cary
  • Heart of Wessex Line diverges to Weymouth
• Taunton
  • Line continues to Exeter and Plymouth (see above)

Note: Most direct London-Plymouth trains use this route.

Cornish Main Line

• Plymouth
  • Tamar Valley Line diverges to Gunnislake
• Devonport
• St Budeaux
• Saltash
• St Germans
• Menheniot
• Liskeard
  • Looe Valley Line diverges to Looe
• Bodmin Parkway
  • Connection with Bodmin & Wenford Railway (a heritage railway)
• Lostwithiel
• Par
  • Atlantic Coast Line diverges to Newquay
• St Austell
  • Eden Branchline Rail Link bus service to the Eden Project
• Truro
  • Maritime Line diverges to Falmouth
• Redruth
  • Rail Link bus service to Helston and RNAS Culdrose
• Camborne
• Hayle
• St Erth
  • St Ives Bay Line diverges to St Ives
• Penzance

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.

Main line railways in Great Britain:
High-speed main lines:	Channel Tunnel Rail Link
'Classic' main lines:	Cross-Country Route   East Coast Main Line   Great Eastern Main Line    Great Western Main Line   Midland Main Line   West Coast Main Line

Railway lines in South-West England and the "Great Western" zone :
Main lines:	Cross-Country Route   Great Western Main Line  Cherwell Valley Line   Gloucester-Newport Line   Exeter-Paignton "Riviera" Line   South Wales Main Line    Wessex Main Line   West of England Main Line
Commuter lines:	Severn Beach Line   Slough-Windsor & Eton Line
Rural lines:	Exeter-Barnstaple "Tarka" Line   Exeter-Exmouth "Avocet" Line   Golden Valley Line   Heart of Wessex Line    Henley Branch Line   Looe Valley Line   Marlow Branch Line   Par-Newquay "Atlantic Coast" Line    St Ives Bay Line   Tamar Valley Line   Truro-Falmouth "Maritime" Line