Ascot railway station

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.

For the railway station in Ascot, Brisbane, Australia, see Ascot railway station, Brisbane.

Ascot
Location
Place	Ascot
Local authority	Windsor and Maidenhead
Grid reference	SU921682
Operations
Station code	ACT
Managed by	South Western Railway
Number of platforms	3
DfT category	C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	1.226 million
– Interchange	0.319 million
2015/16	1.256 million
– Interchange	0.318 million
2016/17	1.247 million
– Interchange	0.308 million
2017/18	1.213 million
– Interchange	0.287 million
2018/19	1.235 million
– Interchange	0.278 million
History
4 June 1856	Opened
1 February 1857	Renamed Ascot & Sunninghill
10 July 1921	Renamed Ascot
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ascot from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

Ascot–Ash Vale Jn
Waterloo–Reading line to Reading & Waterloo Ascot 28 mi 79 ch 46.65 km Bagshot 32 mi 08 ch 51.66 km Camberley 35 mi 30 ch 56.93 km Frimley 37 mi 48 ch 60.51 km South Western main line to Weymouth & Waterloo Alton line to Pirbright Jn Ash Vale Jn 40 mi 57 ch 65.52 km Ash Vale North Downs Line Wokingham Jn–Guildford Aldershot Alton line to Alton

The station has three tracks and four platform faces. 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, possibly due to safety worries relating to the third rail being on the other side or the ability of staff to monitor both sides of departing trains. 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

The 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

Ascot is served by trains between London Waterloo and Reading with a basic service every 30 minutes Monday to Sunday (there are more frequent trains in the morning and evening peaks – around 4 per hour). Trains to Aldershot operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 60 minutes on Sundays (to Guildford). Most of these trains start or terminate at Ascot, but there are through trains from London Waterloo to Aldershot during Monday to Friday peak periods.[6]

During Royal Ascot week, train services from London Waterloo to Reading through Ascot are significantly increased, with trains running every 15 mins in either direction.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Sunningdale		South Western Railway Waterloo to Reading Line		Martins Heron
Terminus		South Western Railway Ascot to Guildford Line		Bagshot

Notes

1. Body 1984, p. 36
2. Ascot 'A' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; Retrieved 13 April 2016
3. Ascot 'B' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; Retrieved 13 April 2016
4. Ascot West Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; Retrieved 13 April 2016
5. Body 1984, p. 35.
6. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 149 (Network Rail)

References

• Body, G (1984). PSL Field Guides – Railways of the Southern Region. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0-85059-664-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Butt, R. V. J. (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.
• 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

• Train times and station information for Ascot railway station from National Rail
• Ascot railway station in the 1866 edition of Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain & Ireland
• Station on navigable Ordnance Survey map