Staines West railway station

Staines West railway station was one of three stations in the town of Staines-upon-Thames, 19 miles (31 km) west of central London. The station was opened on 2 November 1885 as the southern terminus of the Staines & West Drayton Railway (SWDR).

Staines West
Main building seen from the south in 2017
Location
Place	Staines-upon-Thames
Area	Spelthorne
Grid reference	TQ033718
Operations
Original company	Staines & West Drayton Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	1
History
2 November 1885 (1885-11-02)	Opened as "Staines"
26 September 1949	Renamed "Staines West"
29 March 1965 (1965-03-29)	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

The station was originally named "Staines", although the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) already had a Staines railway station on the opposite side of the town centre. The LSWR had refused access to its station because the SWDR was operated by the rival Great Western Railway (GWR). The two companies competed to Windsor and Reading, Berkshire and the LSWR regarded the SWDR as encroaching on its territory in Staines.

The station was in Wraysbury Road at the junction with Moor Lane. The building was a 19th-century villa of London stock brick that had been built for the owner of the adjacent Pound Mill on the River Colne. The SWDR bought the house from the miller and had it converted it into the station building. Tracks and a goods yard were laid north of the house and a single platform with a short canopy was built.

The station in August 1962 with a British Rail Class 121 at the platform

On 26 September 1949 British Railways renamed the station "Staines West". In 1964 it had 14 trains on weekdays. On 29 March 1965 BR withdrew passenger services on the branch and closed the station.[1][2][3]

After closure to passengers the goods yard was demolished and a rail accessed-oil storage depot built in its place. In 1981 then the line north of the station was severed by the building of the M25 motorway so a new link to the Windsor line was laid to serve the oil depot. It closed ten years later.[4]

The station building survives and has been converted into commercial offices. The platform have been replaced with a car park the tracks have been removed to make way for a small building

The Heathrow Airtrack scheme for a rail link between Heathrow Airport and the South West Trains network would have appropriated part of the Staines West route.[5]

Staines–Windsor line
Windsor & Eton Riverside Black Potts Bridge over River Thames Black Potts Viaduct over Jubilee River Mays Level Crossing (MCB-CCTV) B470 Datchet Level Crossing (MCB-CCTV) Datchet Sunnymeads Wraysbury Colne Brook M25 River Wraysbury Staines & West Drayton Railway to West Drayton World War II link (1940–1947) A30 Reversing point for oil trains Oil terminal link (1981–1991) Oil terminal (1964–1991) Staines West River Colne Staines High Street Waterloo–Reading line to Reading Staines Waterloo–Reading line to London Waterloo

References

1. 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. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
2. Catford, Nick. "Staines West". Disused Stations.
3. "Staines West – West Drayton". Abandoned Stations.
4. Airtrack Home Page Archived 24 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
5. Topham, Gwyn (15 June 2019). "Left in a siding: the rail link that could make Heathrow greener". The Observer.

Further reading

• Leigh, Chris (1981). GWR Country Stations. Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1108-7.

External links

• "Staines". New Popular Edition Maps. – navigable Ordnance Survey Seventh Series 1:63,360 map showing Staines West railway station

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		Staines & West Drayton Railway Staines West branch		Yeoveney Halt