Heart of Wessex Line

The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth Line, is a railway line that runs from Bristol Temple Meads to Westbury and Weymouth in England. It shares the Wessex Main Line as far as Westbury and then follows the course of the Reading to Taunton Line as far as Castle Cary.

Heart of Wessex Line
Class 37s at Maiden Newton with a summer Saturday Bristol-Weymouth service in 2009
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Wiltshire Dorset South West England
Service
Type	Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Ridership	2,119,070 (2017)
Technical
Line length	87mi 20ch (140.41 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

Heart of Wessex Line
Cross Country Route Bristol Temple Meads Bristol–Exeter line St Anne's Park Keynsham Saltford Somerset & Dorset Joint Rly to Bath Green Park Twerton-on-Avon Oldfield Park Westmoreland Road goods yard Bath Spa Hampton Row Halt Bathampton Bathampton Junction Great Western Main Line Bristol & North Somerset Rly (Camerton branch) Limpley Stoke Freshford Avoncliff Bradford-on-Avon Bradford Junction to Chippenham Trowbridge Reading–Taunton line Westbury Wessex Main Line to Salisbury Bristol and North Somerset Railway Radstock West 1875 1959 Mells Road 1887 1959 Frome 1851   Whatley Quarry Witham 1856 1966 East Somerset Railway to Wells Strap Lane Halt Bruton 1856   Somerset & Dorset Joint Rly to Poole Castle Cary 1856   Reading–Taunton line Sparkford 1856 1966 Marston Magna 1856 1966 Yeovil–Taunton line Yeovil Town│Yeovil Pen Mill 1943 link West of England line to Exeter Yeovil Junction Clifton Maybank goods West of England line to Salisbury Thornford 1936   Yetminster 1857   Chetnole Evershot Tunnel Evershot Cattistock Bridport branch Maiden Newton 1857   Grimstone Viaduct Grimstone and Frampton 1857 1966 Bradford Peverell & Stratton Halt 1933 1966 Poundbury Tunnel Dorchester West 1857   Dorchester Junction South West Main Line Monkton and Came Halt 1905 1957 Bincombe Tunnel Upwey Wishing Well Halt 1905 1957 Upwey (original station) Abbotsbury branch 1885 1952 Upwey 1886   Radipole Halt 1905 1984 Weymouth Portland Branch Railway Weymouth Harbour Tramway 1865 1999 Weymouth Quay 1889 1987

History

Main article: Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway

Places served

The cities, towns and villages served by this route are listed below:

• Bristol
• Keynsham
• Bath
• Freshford
• Avoncliff
• Bradford on Avon
• Trowbridge
• Westbury
• Frome
• Bruton
• Castle Cary
• Yeovil
• Thornford
• Yetminster
• Chetnole
• Maiden Newton
• Dorchester
• Upwey
• Weymouth

Operator

Passenger services on the route are operated by Great Western Railway and South Western Railway.

Most Great Western services originate from Bristol Temple Meads or Westbury. Some originate from towns and cities beyond Bristol such as Gloucester, Cheltenham and Great Malvern.

South Western Railway operate a limited service between London Waterloo and Yeovil Junction via Castle Cary. From summer 2016 there was also a "seaside special" service between Weymouth and Salisbury or Waterloo via Yeovil Junction, but this was withdrawn in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rolling stock

Services are typically operated with Class 165 and Class 166 "Networker Turbo" trains. These were introduced in the late 2010s after they were released from the Thames Valley during the modernisation of the Great Western Main Line, although Class 158s are still occasionally used. South Western Railway services are operated by Class 159s and sometimes Class 158s.

Before the introduction of the Networker Turbo trains, the route was typically operated with Sprinter diesel multiple unit trains, typically of 2 or 3 coach Class 150, with some Class 158 trains.

Past rolling stock has included locomotive-hauled trains, including British Railways Mark 2 coaches hauled by Class 67 used to strengthen high-demand summer Saturday services in 2008–2010 between Bristol and the seaside resort of Weymouth.^[1]

Community rail

A Bristol to Weymouth Rail Partnership was created in 1998 so that local authorities could support the line. In 2003 this was rebranded as the Heart of Wessex partnership and line. The TransWilts community rail partnership (CRP) gained accredited status under the Department for Transport's community rail programme which began in 2005.

In 2021, although the line's branding remains the same, the responsibility for the line was divided among three CRPs: Severnside CRP from Bristol to Bradford on Avon, TransWilts CRP covering Trowbridge and Westbury in Wiltshire, and the newly created South Wessex CRP covering stations from Frome to Yeovil in Somerset and from Thornford to Weymouth in Dorset.

Accidents and incidents

• On 18 March 1849, a passenger train became divided approaching Keynsham. The rear portion then ran into the front portion when the latter stopped at the station. One person was injured.
• On 20 January 1853 a luggage train was derailed near Keynsham due to an axle failure on one of the carriages.
• On 7 June 1865, a passenger train ran into the rear of another near Keynsham, and an empty stock train ran into the wreckage. At least three people were injured.
• On 4 August 1868, a passenger train collided with the buffer stops at Weymouth due to poor rail conditions and driver error. Six people were injured.
• On 28 October 1873, a mail train passed a signal at danger and collided with a luggage train at Westbury.
• On 11 June 1875, a passenger train was derailed at Bathampton Junction. One person was killed and six were injured, three seriously.
• On 2 July 1876, a freight train was derailed at Bathampton Junction.
• On 15 August 1876, a freight train was derailed at Hampton Row after a bale of cotton fell off a wagon and derailed the one behind it.
• On 24 October 1882, a passenger train was derailed near Cattistock when a bridge collapsed under it due to a storm. Several people were injured, on seriously.
• On 8 August 1913, a passenger train ran into the rear of another at Yeovil Pen Mill due to passing a signal at danger. Two people were killed and ten injured, two seriously.
• On 11 January 1966, an express passenger train ran into the rear of another at St Anne's Park due to a signalman's error. A locomotive was then in a sidelong collision with the wreckage. Nineteen passengers were injured. Diesel-hydraulic locomotive D 1071 Western Renown was severely damaged; D 864 Zambesi was slightly damaged.
• On 25 August 1974, a passenger train was derailed at Dorchester West after passing a signal at danger. Eighteen people were injured.
• On 24 March 1987, a passenger train and a freight train were in a head-on collision at Frome due to the freight train passing a signal at danger. Locomotives 33 032 and 47 202 were severely damaged. Fifteen people were injured, some seriously.
• On 10 November 2008, a freight train was derailed at East Somerset Junction due to a signalman's error.
• On 12 November 2008, a passenger train collided with a van on a level crossing at Freshford. There were no injuries.
• On 6 December 2011, a train was derailed at Westbury.
• On 24 January 2013, a passenger train caught fire at Upwey.
• On 20 March 2017, a freight train was derailed at East Somerset Junction. The line was closed until 25 March.

Bibliography

• R.V.J. Butt (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1
• Robert Adley (1988). Covering My Tracks. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 0-85059-882-6
• J.H. Lucking. Railways of Dorset. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society 1968. ISBN(no ISBN)

External links

• Heart of Wessex line – The Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership