Kemble railway station

Kemble
Looking towards Swindon
Location
Place	Kemble
Local authority	Gloucestershire
Coordinates	51°40′34″N 2°01′23″W / 51.676°N 2.023°WCoordinates: 51°40′34″N 2°01′23″W / 51.676°N 2.023°W
Grid reference	ST985975
Operations
Station code	KEM
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	D
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	0.195 million
2004/05	0.223 million
2005/06	0.237 million
2006/07	0.261 million
2007/08	0.287 million
2008/09	0.309 million
2009/10	0.317 million
2010/11	0.341 million
2011/12	0.357 million
2012/13	0.356 million
2013/14	0.341 million
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
1882	Opened
1964	Tetbury branch closed
1964	Cirencester branch closed
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Kemble from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Kemble railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire, England. The station is on the Swindon to Gloucester "Golden Valley" line. Despite its rural location, Kemble station has a high number of passengers, due mainly to the proximity of Cirencester.

History

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) as an exchange station on 12 May 1845 with the line opening from Swindon to Gloucester. Only on 1 May 1882 did it become a public station replacing the nearby Tetbury Road.^[1] Until the 1960s the station was a junction, with branch lines to Cirencester Town and Tetbury. Both the Tetbury branch line and the Cirencester Branch Line were closed to traffic under The Reshaping of British Railways, the first day without service being 6 April 1964.

Diesel-hauled Up stopping train in 1962

Diesel and steam in 1962

British Rail reduced the line to Swindon to single track in 1968 but the second track was reinstated in 2014 (see Golden Valley Line).

Description

The former Cirencester platform at Kemble, June 2009

The station has two platforms in use. The former Tetbury bound platform remains but the track has been lifted. The building on the down platform (no. 2) has been out of use for several years, containing toilets and a waiting room, which are still in situ. On the former Cirencester platform, a short stub of track remains for the occasional stabling of track machines. This ends at a buffer stop just before the station car park. In 2013, Cotswold District Council refused an application by Network Rail to demolish part of the Grade II listed Cirencester bay platform in connection with the redoubling of the line from Swindon.^[2] According to the Council, the platform was still in a good state of repair and any public benefit from the demolition would not outweigh the damage that would be caused to the historical significance of the station.^[2] The station has a ticket office and a small café.

Services

Great Western Railway operates services from London Paddington to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa using HST trains and local services from Swindon to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa using the Great Western Railway Class 143, Class 150, Class 153 and Class 158 trains.

Kemble station is served on a Monday to Friday by:

• 18 Swindon bound trains, 8 of which continue to London Paddington via Reading
• 18 Gloucester bound trains, 17 of which continue to Cheltenham Spa.

Making an off peak service of one train every two hours to London, with trains to Swindon, Cheltenham and Gloucester every hour. The station is occasionally served by Cardiff Central / Swansea services diverted during engineering works.

References

1. Quick, Michael (2009). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain. p. 229.
2. Milner, Chris (August 2013). "Platform demolition refused". The Railway Magazine 159 (1,348): 89.

External links

• History of the line
• Gloucestershire Transport