Dorchester West railway station

Dorchester West
Location
Place	Dorchester
Local authority	District of West Dorset
Coordinates	50°42′40″N 2°26′35″W / 50.711°N 2.443°WCoordinates: 50°42′40″N 2°26′35″W / 50.711°N 2.443°W
Grid reference	SY688902
Operations
Station code	DCW
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	75,276
2011/12	64,776
2012/13	130,838
2013/14	133,568
2014/15	131,408
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
1857	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Dorchester West from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Dorchester West railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Dorchester in Dorset, England. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who operate all trains serving it.

The station is located on the Heart of Wessex Line between Castle Cary and Weymouth and is at the southern end of a single track section from Maiden Newton. The line becomes double at the station and remains so to nearby Dorchester Junction where it joins the main line from London Waterloo station to Weymouth.

History

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 20 January 1857, when it completed the former Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth line from Castle Cary and Yeovil through to Weymouth.

An accident occurred at this station in 1974 when an excursion train from Hereford to Weymouth, on its return journey, did not stop at the signal controlling the entry to the single line section, and ran into the sand drag. The locomotive (a Class 47) ran right through the sand drag and out the other side, followed by a couple of coaches. Eighteen passengers suffered minor injuries in the derailment, but no one was seriously hurt.^[1] The passengers were taken home by train via Southampton later that evening, and the loco was subsequently re-railed and recovered during the night several weeks later.

In the late 1980s, the station gained attention as being one of the worst-maintained stations in the country. Subsequent renovations have brought it up to a much more respectable standard.

Services

A train leaving for Weymouth

Great Western Railway operate services between Gloucester and Weymouth. Later this year, an additional service will run once on a Saturday between Weymouth to London Waterloo operating from late May to early September each year.

See also

• Dorchester South railway station
• Ordnance Survey 1937 map of Dorchester showing the location of the two stations

Notes

1. Dept of the Environment Railway Accidents - Report into the Derailment that occurred on 25 August 1974 at Dorchester West StationThe Railways Archive; Retrieved 2009-06-23