West of England line

Trains between London Waterloo and Exeter run on the South West Main Line as far as . The West of England Line diverges at Worting Junction, a short distance west. North of Worting Junction, stopping services from London Waterloo and CrossCountry services to the North of England via Reading use the outer pair of tracks, while Waterloo express services use the inner pair of tracks. The inner pair of tracks are unelectrified through the junction and continue west to Salisbury and Exeter. Beyond Worting Junction, the route heads generally westwards to , where there is a connection with the Wessex Main Line, then over the Heart of Wessex Line without a junction just before . There is a connection to the Avocet Line just before Exeter. The line passes through before ending at . Overall, it passes through five counties – Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and Devon. Network Rail splits the line into two sections: the first section from the line's start at Worting Junction to Wilton Junction (near Salisbury) is classified as "London & SE commuter", while the rest is a "secondary" route. The secondary route west of Salisbury is predominantly single track, but has three sections of double track and four passing loops. The double track sections and passing loops are: a loop just outside , a loop at Gillingham, double track from to , a loop at the former station, 3 miles of double track centred on , a loop at station, and double track from to Exeter. The line has a similar route to the parallel A303 road, which runs from Basingstoke to Honiton. The line's speed limit is mainly at or above over its whole length from Basingstoke to Exeter. Speed is further limited around the junctions. The first section to Wilton Junction has a listed line speed of 50–90 mph, and the secondary section to Exeter has a line speed of mainly 85 mph with parts at 70 mph. There are two depots on the line operated by the South Western Railway. The traincare depot is at Salisbury, while the traincrew depot is at Yeovil Junction. == History ==

Construction The line was constructed in stages completed between 1854 and 1860, and eventually was wholly operated by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR). There had been plans to construct a direct line from London to Exeter since the beginning of railways. Although the Great Western Railway (GWR) were the first to construct a line to Exeter in 1844, this went via Bristol. The L&SWR had opened a line to on 1 March 1847, which ran via Southampton. They had agreed with the Southampton & Dorchester Railway that they would not construct any lines west of Salisbury or Dorchester, but changed their stance following the opening of the GWR route. The section from Basingstoke to Andover opened on 3 July 1854, followed by an extension to Salisbury on 1 May 1857. The section from Salisbury to Yeovil was originally constructed by the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway. The first section to open was Salisbury to Gillingham on 2 May 1859, followed by extensions to on 7 May 1860, on 1 June, and on 19 July. To allow an easy transfer at Salisbury, the original station at Milford was closed and rerouted to its current site at Fisherton at the same time as the Gillingham extension. The section from Yeovil to Exeter involved a lengthy tunnel near Honiton, constructed from 11 million bricks. The tunnel has since been closed on occasion because of drainage problems owing to nearby natural springs. A branch to , connecting with the GWR services, opened on 11 September 1866. A further extension of the mainline to opened on 1 February 1862. Later history The line was upgraded from single to double track in stages during the 1860s; most bridges had been built to accommodate two tracks. This work was complete by 1 July 1870. Further branch lines opened to on 1 May 1861, Chard on 11 September 1866, Seaton on 16 March 1868, on 6 July 1874, and on 24 August 1903. Worting Junction was originally constructed as a flat junction which required that down trains for the West of England line and up trains from Southampton crossed each other's paths. This was not a great concern at the time, but as traffic and speeds increased the junction became a bottleneck. To relieve this, a flying junction was provided to the south, opening on 30 May 1897. This changed the arrangement so that up trains from the Southampton line now crossed over the up and down Salisbury lines on Battledown Flyover, west of Basingstoke. A rail motor service was introduced between Exeter and Honiton in 1906, but was soon cancelled. The Amesbury and Military Camp Light Railway branch from opened in 1 June 1906. The GWR line from and via had its own terminus at Salisbury from where the L&SWR continued the route southeast towards Southampton. The two stations were amalgamated on 12 September 1932 when passenger trains were diverted into the Southern Railway station. This route is known now as the Wessex Main Line. Following nationalisation in 1948, the line initially saw heavy investment from British Railways, with services including the Atlantic Express service from Waterloo to various points past Exeter, and a regular service from to . The line speed past Salisbury was increased to in 1949. The section west of Salisbury was transferred from the Southern Region of British Railways to the Western Region in 1963, which led it into direct comparisons with the Paddington–Taunton–Exeter service and concerns over its viability. The Beeching Report of 1963 identified duplication of routes from London to the West Country, and concluded the West of England line was secondary, as it carried 20% of the overall traffic between London and Exeter compared to the route via Paddington and the Reading–Taunton line. A complete closure west of Salisbury was rumoured. Instead, the proposal was to reduce long sections west of Salisbury to single track, close minor stations, and reduce services to one train every two hours. All branch lines between Salisbury and Exeter had closed by 1967, including Chard on 10 September 1962, Lyme Regis on 29 November 1965 and Yeovil on 3 October 1966, and all through services beyond Exeter had been withdrawn by 1968. The proposal was toned down after concerns with overcrowding, and a section between and was retained as double track. A passing loop at Tisbury opened on 24 March 1986. The line has never been considered for electrification, and consequently all rolling stock has been steam, then diesel. Pinhoe station re-opened in 1982, followed by Templecombe a year later. By the 1980s, the line was clearly in decline, with limited traffic and unsatisfactory locomotive stock. However, services began to improve after the introduction of British Rail Class 159s in 1993. Through services began running beyond Exeter again in 1992, and continued until 2009. Additional Class 159s and British Rail Class 158s were introduced from 2006, having previously been used on the TransPennine Express route. The 2006 Network Rail South West Main Line Route Utilisation Strategy recommended building additional sections of double track so the timetable could be improved, however Network Rail's 2008 Route Plan did not mention this. An additional passing loop was constructed at in 2009, allowing hourly services to run between Waterloo and Exeter St David's. == Current operations ==

Passengers Passenger services are operated by South Western Railway using and trains. There are generally two trains each hour between and , one of which continues to and from . A few Salisbury services continue to and from . Journey time between London and Exeter is under 3 hours and 30 minutes; between London and Salisbury takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. Freight There is a freight branch line to the Ministry of Defence site at Ludgershall. Other freight from Southampton Docks is sometimes routed over the eastern part of this route when the South Western Main Line through is closed. The line carried a significant amount of milk from Chard until March 1980. == Future ==

There have been proposals to electrify the line. In 2025, train operator South Western Railway estimated that their Class 159 and 158s would reach the end of their life by 2030. As an alternative to replacement by diesels or electrification, a proposal has been made for battery-operated trains with intermittent third rail charging points. == See also ==