Golden Valley Line
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The Golden Valley Line is a railway line from Swindon to Standish Junction, which is just south of Gloucester, UK. Most passenger services continue beyond Gloucester to Cheltenham Spa.
The line was originally built as the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway in the 1840s. It diverges from the Great Western Main Line at Swindon, and, (after going through the Sapperton railway tunnel and down the Golden Valley to Stroud), joins the main Bristol to Birmingham main line at Gloucester, having run parallel with the former Midland line from just north of Stonehouse. The intermediate towns served by the route are listed below.
- Swindon
- Kemble
- Stroud
- Stonehouse
- Gloucester (reverse)
- Cheltenham Spa
Kemble railway station used to a be a former junction for two branch lines serving Cirencester and Tetbury. Both of these lines closed in the 1960s and the Swindon-Kemble section of the line was reduced to single track. Today, Kemble station is mainly used by commuters from Cirencester.
Local passenger services between Swindon and Cheltenham are currently operated by First Great Western. Services are approximately hourly, but with some gaps. These are filled by express services from London Paddington to Cheltenham (via the Golden Valley), which are operated by First Great Western.
[edit] See also
- For fuller details of the earlier stations on this line see the article on the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway.
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