Chippenham railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chippenham | |||
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| Location | |||
| Place | Chippenham | ||
| Local authority | North Wiltshire | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | CPM | ||
| Managed by | First Great Western | ||
| Platforms in use | 2 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 1.257 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 1.315 million | ||
| History | |||
| Key dates | Opened 1841 | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Chippenham from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. | |||
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Chippenham railway station is the railway station serving Chippenham in Wiltshire. The station is on the Great Western Main Line, in between Swindon and Bath Spa. It is a rural station, with just two services regularly stopping, the First Great Western Main Line between Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington, and a smaller First Great Western local service that runs between Swindon and Trowbridge, via Chippenham and Melksham.
The station is managed by First Great Western.
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[edit] Station Buildings
The original station building at Chippenham was to Brunel's design and was opened in 1841. With the subsequent opening of new lines to Salisbury and Weymouth, the station was not adequate to meet the increased demand and was redesigned by J H Bertram in 1856-58; it is Grade II listed. It is constructed in Bath stone ashlar with a bay window at one end and a wing at the other making a long, low composition.[1]
In the station yard, there is another Grade II listed building partly in random stone but mainly weather-boarded on a timber frame with a pitched slate roof. It is an early weightbridge house and coal merchant's office. It is known that coal merchants opened a depot in 1840 and the building dates from that time. The building is painted dark green and currently leased by North Wiltshire Artspace (charity), and rented out to various groups.
Immediately west of the station lies Chippenham Viaduct designed by Brunel in 1841. It is Grade II listed. The first arch, over New Road, appears to have been modelled on the Roman triumphal arch. It has a 26ft span and is flanked by two smaller pedestiran arches of 10ft each. All is summounted by a heavy cornice and parapet. The north side is constructed from Bath Stone Ashlar with some brick patching while the south side is in blue brick following widening in the early 1900s.[2]
[edit] Engineering works
Immediately to the north of the station itself is an engineering works, originally founded to support the Great Western Railway, and now supplying equipment to the worldwide rail industry. It was founded in 1842 by Rowland Brotherhood and, as of 2008, is occupied by Invensys Rail Systems and its UK manufacturing subsidiary, Westinghouse Rail Systems. For most of its life, it manufactured railway air braking systems and railway signalling.[3]
[edit] Services
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath Spa | First Great Western London - Bristol |
Swindon | ||
| Melksham | First Great Western Wessex Main Line |
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[edit] References
- ^ Clark, R H (1981). An Historic Survey of Selected Great Western Stations, volume 3.
- ^ Biddle, Gordon (2003). Britain's Historic Railway Buildings: an Oxford Gazetteer of Structures and Sites. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Timeline from Chippenham Town Council website. Retrieved on March 30, 2008.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Chippenham railway station from National Rail
