Bracknell railway station

Summary

Bracknell railway station serves the town of Bracknell in Berkshire, England. It is 32 miles 24 chains (52.0 km) down the line from London Waterloo.

Bracknell
National Rail
General information
LocationBracknell, Bracknell Forest
England
Coordinates51°24′47″N 0°45′07″W / 51.413°N 0.752°W / 51.413; -0.752
Grid referenceSU869689
Managed bySouth Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBCE
ClassificationDfT category C2
History
Opened9 July 1856
Original companyStaines and Wokingham Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and South Western Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Passengers
2018/19Increase 2.328 million
 Interchange  21
2019/20Decrease 2.179 million
2020/21Decrease 0.470 million
2021/22Increase 1.191 million
2022/23Increase 1.491 million
 Interchange  132
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Bracknell station in 1961
A 1909 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Reading

The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South Western Railway. It is on the Waterloo to Reading line.

History edit

The station was opened in 1856 by the Staines and Wokingham Railway which was taken over by the London and South Western Railway in 1878. British Railways closed the goods yard in 1969. The station was redeveloped in 1975, and the entrance is now under the Bracknell Quintiles building.[1]

Services edit

Trains run between London Waterloo and Reading every 30 minutes, seven days a week. On weekdays there are extra morning and evening peak time trains between Reading and London Waterloo, with one evening service from Reading terminating at Staines.[2]

Journey times to London Waterloo are around an hour, whilst to Reading it is 20 mins.

Preceding station   National Rail Following station
Martins Heron   South Western Railway
Waterloo to Reading
  Wokingham

Bracknell bus station is next to the railway station.

Improvements edit

In 2008 work began to improve access for passengers with wheelchairs, baby-vehicles or bicycles. A new covered footbridge, with both staircases and lifts, was completed and opened in 2009. Before this, the only way to reach the "Down" (Reading-bound) platform was over the steps of the original footbridge at the London end of the platforms. This was a classic Southern Railway design with no roof, built of pre-cast concrete sections. It had also provided direct access from Crowthorne Road North, but this extra span had long been disconnected. Once the new bridge was opened, the old bridge was taken out of use and fenced off. It was demolished in May 2009. In 2017 the platforms were extended to accommodate 10 to 12 car trains with the increase of passengers on the line

References edit

  1. ^ "The Coming of Railways" (PDF). Bracknell Forest Borough Council. 1999. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  2. ^ GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 149 (Network Rail)

External links edit