Railway History

This QR stop sits at the edge of Coronation Country Park, where the Wilts & Berks Canal runs alongside the town’s main railway corridor.

The line here was opened for through running in 1841 (after Box Tunnel), and in 1903 the station and track were rebuilt to form Wootton Bassett Junction. For decades this was a working landscape: goods yards, coal, parcels and a thriving milk trade. From the late 1960s–70s the track was upgraded for higher speeds, and in the 2010s bridges and track were altered for electrification.

Although the station has gone, main‑line trains still pass by the park. The Wootton Bassett Junction remains a vital link between London and the West of England and South Wales, with frequent passenger and freight movements throughout the day.

Opening of Wootton Bassett Junction

Railway workers during the construction of Wootton Bassett Junction station in 1903

Timeline

17th December 1840: Temporary terminus at Hay Lane, Wootton Bassett Road opened ~2.5 miles east. Road coaches connected to Bath while Box Tunnel was finished.
30th July 1841: Box Tunnel opened and the permanent Wootton Bassett station by Marlborough Road began through running London–Bristol.
1874–1892: Mixed‑gauge working introduced June 1874 with a third rail. Full change to standard gauge completed May 1892 (third rails lifted over one weekend).
1896: Parliament approved the direct South Wales line, selecting Wootton Bassett as the junction for the new route.
1901–1903: Station rebuilt as a Wootton Bassett Junction

Goods yard and shed - a hub for deliveries to and from local farms

Fun Fact:

The cost of the construction for the new Wootton Bassett station rebuild was £4,409 16 shillings and 4 pence, which is equivalent to approximately £470,000 today.

Railway Freight

The railway was busy with constant flows of coal and parcels, plus raw and finished materials for brewing, rope and canvas trades. The station was also a GWR pilot for integrated rail‑road parcel delivery and collection. The goods yard and shed off Marlborough Road became a local in- and outbound hub. Early horse shunting later gave way to small locomotive shunters.

Milk by rail: From 1908, the Dairy Supply Company shipped milk from rural farms into London. Glass‑lined milk tanks arrived in 1927, with a dedicated rail link east of Marlborough Road and in 1931, dairy siding was incorporated to speed up the loading process. General freight ceased on the 19th May 1964.

Coal continued to be transported until the 4th Oct 1965, and the St Ivel railhead kept milk traffic moving by rail until 1970, when bulk road haulage took over. Today, rail‑served activity continues via an aggregates depot south of the former station, initially used to support Swindon’s expansion and the construction of the M4, the first section of which opened in 1965 incorporating the earlier Chiswick Flyover.

Freight sidings at Wootton Bassett Junction

Glass-lined milk tankers allowing for more efficient milk transportation

Closure of Wootton Bassett Station

A one‑week rail census was undertaken in April 1961 and used in the infamous Beeching Report, 'The Reshaping of British Railways', published on the 27th March 1963 by the British Transport Commission. The report argued that rising financial losses, combined with the increasing competition from road transport, required the closure of unprofitable lines and stations.

As a result, passenger services on the Wootton Bassett services stopped on the 2nd January 1965. According to reports, the last train was standing‑room only, a common occurrence for line closures at the time. Coal traffic, the final regular traffic, ended on the 4th October 1965, completing the withdrawal of traffic from the station.

Record run

In 1975, the APT‑E (Advanced Passenger Train – Experimental) reached 152.3 mph between Swindon and Reading!