Corsham railway station

Corsham railway station served the town of Corsham in Wiltshire, England, between 1841 and 1965. Feasibility studies for the reopening of the station have been under way since 2021.

Corsham
Site of former station in 2007
General information
LocationCorsham, County of Wiltshire
England
Coordinates51.42535°N 2.18924°W / 51.42535; -2.18924
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused (reopening under study)
History
Original companyGreat Western Railway
Key dates
June 1841Opened
4 January 1965Closed

History

The station was on the Great Western Railway main line from London to Bristol and was opened when the Chippenham to Bath section opened in June 1841.

The station was situated in a cutting to the south of the town, with the main station building at the top of the cutting on the town side. There were small shelters with canopies on each of the two platforms. Passengers accessed the up platform using a path, and the down platform from the footbridge. The Station Hotel was situated alongside the main station building.

Corsham had extensive and much-used sidings on both sides of the track to the west of the station, with a goods shed and a loading dock. The main goods traffic was stone from the quarries under Box Hill, which was brought to the lineside by a tramway system of 2 ft 5+1⁄2 in (750 mm) gauge. The sidings led right up to the mouth of Box Tunnel, whose eastern portal is less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from the station. A main line siding also extended to an underground wharf in Corsham Down Quarry near the tunnel.[1]

Passenger services were withdrawn from Corsham with the end of stopping services between Swindon and Bath in January 1965. Goods traffic had ended in June 1963, though the siding with the loading dock remained in place until 1978. Of the station structures, only the goods shed remains; the footbridge is still in place as part of a footpath across the main line.[2]

Reopening

As the town has grown, reinstating the station has been suggested since at least 2009.[3] In March 2021, a bid was made to the Department for Transport's "Restoring Your Railway" fund for a feasibility study into re-opening the station.[4] In October 2021 it was announced that £50,000 would be provided for further studies.[5][6] Local MP Michelle Donelan, who had been involved in the bid, said she hoped the new station could be built within five years.[6] The study funded a business case which was submitted in November 2022. If successful, it is estimated that work could start in 2026 and the station would open in 2028.[7]

References
  1. Brooks, A.T.; Pearce, A.E.McR.; Perkins, J.W. (1979). Bath Stone, a quarry history. ISBN 0-906230-26-8.
  2. Oakley, Mike (2004). Wiltshire Railway Stations. Wimborne: The Dovecote Press. pp. 44–46. ISBN 1904349331.
  3. "Support for railway station plan". BBC News: England. 5 March 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  4. McLaughlin, Matthew (11 March 2021). "Fresh bids submitted for funding to create two new stations". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  5. "Restoring your railway: successful bids". GOV.UK. Department for Transport. 27 October 2021. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  6. Baker, John (27 October 2021). "MP welcomes £50,000 grant towards station". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  7. "'Exciting next step' for Corsham railway station plans". BBC News. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Chippenham
Line open, station open		   Great Western Railway
Great Western Main Line		   Box (Mill Lane) Halt
Line open, station closed
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