Rushey Platt railway station

Rushey Platt railway station is a former station on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway at Rushey Platt, south west of the centre of Swindon in Wiltshire.

Rushey Platt
Station on heritage railway
The site of the station in 2010
General information
LocationSwindon, Swindon
England
Platforms4
History
Original companySwindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway
Pre-groupingMidland and South Western Junction Railway
Key dates
1883opened
1905closed
Railway lines in Swindon
Highworth branch line
Great Western Main Line
to London
Stratton
Stratton Park Halt
Stratton St Margaret Works
Midland & Sth Western Jn Rly
to Cheltenham
Midland & Sth Western Jn Rly
to Southampton
Swindon and Cricklade Railway Hayes Knoll
Chiseldon Camp Halt
Swindon and Cricklade Railway Blunsdon
Chiseldon
Moredon Halt
Swindon Town
Moredon Power Station
Swindon
 Rushey Platt
Purton
Golden Valley line
Wootton Bassett Junction
South Wales Main Line
to Swansea
Great Western Main Line
to Bristol

The line was extended in 1882, and the station opened on 18 December 1883 on the Swindon and Cheltenham Extension Railway line from Swindon Town to the temporary terminus at Cirencester Watermoor. The S&CER line amalgamated in 1884 with the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway to form the M&SWJR, and through services beyond Cirencester to the junction at Andoversford with the Great Western Railway's Cheltenham Lansdown to Banbury line, which had opened in 1881, started in 1891. An additional loop for goods traffic opened in 1921.[1]

Rushey Platt was at the junction where the 1883 S&CER line branched off from the SM&AR link line between Swindon Town railway station and the main Great Western Railway station at Swindon. It had platforms on both the through S&CER line and the link, but the service between the two Swindon stations ceased after March 1885 because of the high fees the GWR charged the M&SWJR to run over its tracks, and that part of the station closed only 15 months after it had opened.

Passenger services at the through platforms of the station lasted only a further 20 years and were withdrawn in 1905: the station closed on 1 October 1905,[2] the first station on the line to close to passengers.[1] However, the station remained open for goods traffic, mainly milk, until the M&SWJR line closed to goods in 1964, and a private siding lasted even longer.

The railway embankment is still visible and all that remains of the station is a very weathered upper platform. The rest of the station has disappeared through time and development, and some of the site has been replaced by part of an industrial warehouse in Swindon's Rushey Platt Industrial Park.

The route of the former railway can still be seen with bridges at Mill Lane and Redpost Road.

Route
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Moredon Halt   Midland and South Western Junction Railway
Swindon & Cheltenham Extension Railway
Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway		   Swindon Town

References
  • Wiltshire Railway Stations, Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 2004, ISBN 1-904349-33-1
  1. "Railways Pages 280-293 A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 4. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1959". British History Online. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 371. OCLC 931112387.

51.5522°N 1.8094°W / 51.5522; -1.8094


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