Ascot railway station serves the town of Ascot in Berkshire, England. It is 28 miles 79 chains (46.7 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South Western Railway. It is at the junction of the Waterloo to Reading line with the Ascot to Guildford line.
Ascot  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Ascot, Windsor and Maidenhead England | ||||
| Grid reference | SU921682 | ||||
| Managed by | South Western Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 3 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | ACT | ||||
| Classification | DfT category C2 | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 4 June 1856 | Opened | ||||
| 1 February 1857 | Renamed Ascot & Sunninghill | ||||
| 10 July 1921 | Renamed Ascot | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  1.119 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.268 million | ||||
| 2020/21 | 0.155 million | ||||
| Interchange | 71,831 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  0.551 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.176 million | ||||
| 2022/23 | 0.821 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.225 million | ||||
| 2023/24 | 0.857 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.260 million | ||||
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The station has three active platforms. The London-bound track is a single track with platform faces on either side, both of which are called Platform 1. Until some time prior to 2008, both faces could be used to board London-bound trains, but now only the doors on the ticket office side of the train open with the other side now being fenced off. Platform 2 serves the Reading-bound line, and Platform 3 serves the Guildford line for trains starting and terminating their journeys at Ascot. Where trains are running from London through to Guildford, or vice versa, they use Platform 2. All lines are bi-directional.
History
editThe Staines, Wokingham and Woking Junction Railway opened the station when it reached Ascot on 4 June 1856. On 9 July the line was extended to Wokingham. On 18 March 1878[1] Ascot became a junction when the line towards Ash Vale was opened. Later the London and South Western Railway took over the SWWJR. In the Grouping of 1923 the L&SWR became part of the Southern Railway, which electrified both lines using a third rail system on 1 January 1939. Under nationalisation in 1948 Ascot station became part of the Southern Region of British Railways.
The L&SWR opened Ascot Race Course Platform or Ascot West in 1922 to serve Ascot Racecourse. BR closed it in 1965.[1]
Ascot had four signal boxes until the 1960s – "A" and "B" boxes controlled the main station, West box controlled the racecourse station and "Drake & Mount's Siding" the carriage sidings east of the station.[2][3][4] The line through the station is now under the control of the panel box at Feltham.
When BR sectorised itself in the 1980s, the station was made part of Network SouthEast.
In 1982 a fire severely damaged the station buildings on the "up" (London-bound) side.[5]
Services
editAll services at Ascot are operated by South Western Railway.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[6]
- 2 tph to London Waterloo via Richmond
- 2 tph to Reading
- 2 tph to Aldershot via Camberley
Additional services call at the station during the peak hours. In addition, during the Royal Ascot week, the services through the station are significantly increased.
On Sundays, the services to and from Aldershot are reduced to hourly and are extended to and from Guildford.
| Preceding station | Following station | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunningdale | South Western Railway |
Martins Heron | ||
| Terminus | South Western Railway |
Bagshot | ||
Notes
edit- ^ a b Body 1984, p. 36
- ^ Ascot 'A' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; retrieved 13 April 2016
- ^ Ascot 'B' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; retrieved 13 April 2016
- ^ Ascot West Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; retrieved 13 April 2016
- ^ Body 1984, p. 35.
- ^ Table 149 National Rail timetable, June 2024
References
edit- Body, G (1984). PSL Field Guides – Railways of the Southern Region. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0-85059-664-5.
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
- Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
External links
edit- Train times and station information for Ascot railway station (Berkshire) from National Rail
- Ascot railway station (Berkshire) in the 1866 edition of Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain & Ireland
- Station on navigable Ordnance Survey map