Upwey_(Dorset)_railway_station

Upwey railway station (England)

Upwey railway station (England)

Railway station in Dorset, England


Upwey railway station serves the Broadwey, Upwey and Littlemoor suburbs of Weymouth in Dorset, England. The station is situated on the South West Main Line, 140 miles 31 chains (225.9 km) from London Waterloo and on the Heart of Wessex Line, 166 miles 30 chains (267.8 km) from London Paddington.[1]

Quick Facts General information, Location ...

History

The first station near this location, simply named Upwey, was opened in 1871 by the Great Western Railway (GWR).[2] On 19 April 1886 that station was replaced by the current station, then named Upwey Junction, a railway junction that opened south of the original station to provide access to the single track Abbotsbury branch. The branch was absorbed into the GWR and survived for 66 years before closure under British Railways in 1952.[3] On the closure of the branch Upwey Junction was renamed Upwey and Broadwey on 1 December 1952,[2] and took its current name, Upwey, on 12 May 1980.[2]

During the Network SouthEast era, the station was refurbished with the trademark red lighting poles, station benches and monitor screens for train arrivals. Rubble from the rebuilt Weymouth station was used to fill in the former Abbotsbury platform for use as a car park. This was done in time for the extension of electrification from Bournemouth to Weymouth in 1988.

Two further stations had Upwey in their name. To the north of Upwey Junction existed a halt called Upwey Wishing Well Halt, while around the bend on the Abbotsbury branch was a station which had originally been called Broadwey. However its name was changed to Upwey as it kept being confused with Broadway, Worcestershire, also on the Great Western Railway.[3]

Thomas Hardy wrote a poem At the Railway Station, Upway,[4] about waiting for a train at a country station. In the days of steam, a favourite excursion was from Weymouth to Upwey, and then on to tea at the Upwey Wishing Well by charabanc.

Accidents and incidents

On 24 January 2013, a passenger train caught fire at Upwey.[5]

Services

A South West Trains' service to London Waterloo

Services at Weymouth are operated by South Western Railway and Great Western Railway.

South Western Railway operates one train per hour between Weymouth and London Waterloo. Northbound, this service calls at most stops to Winchester, then Basingstoke, Clapham Junction and London Waterloo.[6]

On weekdays and Saturdays, Great Western Railway operates eight trains per day between Weymouth and Bristol Temple Meads, with a number of these continuing to Gloucester. On Sundays, this is reduced to between three and five trains per day depending on the time of year.[6]

More information Preceding station, National Rail ...

References

  1. Jacobs, Gerald (2005). Railway Track Diagrams, Book 3: Western. Bradford-on-Avon: Trackmaps. pp. 18A.
  2. Butt 1995, p. 238.
  3. "Disused Stations: Upwey Junction Station". www.disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  4. Hardy, Thomas. "At the Railway Station, Upway". Read Books Online. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
  5. "Weymouth rail services delayed by fire under train". BBC News Online. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  6. Table 123, 158 National Rail timetable, May 2022

Bibliography

  • J.H. Lucking (1968). Railways of Dorset. Railway Correspondence and travel Society.
  • Brian L. Jackson (1989). The Abbotsbury Branch. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-906867-80-0.
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.

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