2011

SU0390 : Local train to Gloucester from Swindon, near Minety

taken 13 years ago, near to Minety, Wiltshire, England

Local train to Gloucester from Swindon, near Minety
Local train to Gloucester from Swindon, near Minety
A Class 150/2 'Sprinter' diesel multiple unit dating from about 1987 heads north-west towards the cathedral city. It was scheduled to leave Swindon at 13.46. It is now 14.00 so maybe it was a bit late leaving. The rear of the train is no less attractive than the front SU0290 : Local train from Swindon to Gloucester, near Minety
Swindon to Cheltenham Railway

Written by Brian Robert Marshall
The line, also known as the Golden Valley Line, dates back to the early days of railway development in the 19th century. The first section, from Cheltenham to Gloucester, opened in 1840. In 1841 a line was opened from Swindon Junction to Cirencester via Kemble. Then in 1845 a line from Kemble to Gloucester was opened (Kemble became a junction in its own right with branches to Cirencester to the east, and Tetbury to the west both of which closed on the 1960s). At one time there were twenty stations or halts between Cheltenham, at the northern end of the line, and its terminus at Swindon. Now only six remain open (Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stonehouse, Stroud, Kemble and Swindon). In 1968, the hitherto twin track line was butchered by the then British Rail (under a Labour government) and the stretch between Swindon and Kemble was singled (the plan had been to single the entire section between Swindon and Stonehouse but protests led to the abandonment of the project once it had reached Kemble leaving the section from Kemble north to Stonehouse still a twin track). Proposals to restore the twin track between Kemble and Swindon were made in 2008 but were kicked into the long grass by the Office of Rail Regulation (again under a Labour government). Thankfully the Coalition government that took office in 2010 revived the moribund proposal and announced in 2011 that the project could go ahead. Work on the £45m project started in July 2013 and was expected to be completed by Easter 2014. However, on 07 February 2014 Network Rail announced that completion of the project would be put back until August 2014 because "The very high volume of works during Easter nationally, coupled with ongoing remedial work from flooding earlier this year, means our engineering resources will now be operating at full capacity during one of the busiest phases of the Swindon to Kemble redoubling scheme.
"To minimise risk to the work, and avoid the possibility of unnecessary inconvenience to customers, we are now working towards completing the scheme between Swindon and Kemble by August 2014 rather than Easter as originally planned." Anecdotal evidence suggests that the local residents are looking forward to a considerable hike in property values as the increased rail traffic that will be enabled by the doubling of the line will make the all-important London Paddington destination even more accessible.
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Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Brian Robert Marshall and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Lowlands Village, Rural settlement Railways Category: Railway
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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SU0390, 31 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Brian Robert Marshall   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Monday, 22 August, 2011   (more nearby)
Submitted
Monday, 22 August, 2011
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SU 031 907 [100m precision]
WGS84: 51:36.9449N 1:57.3281W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SU 030 908
View Direction
Southeast (about 135 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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