Chard Junction | |
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Location | |
Place | Chard |
Area | South Somerset |
Coordinates | 50°50′21″N 2°56′12″W / 50.8393°N 2.9367°WCoordinates: 50°50′21″N 2°56′12″W / 50.8393°N 2.9367°W |
Operations | |
Pre-grouping | London and South Western Railway |
Post-grouping | Southern Railway |
Platforms | 3 |
History | |
1860 | Opened as Chard Road |
1863 | Chard branch opened |
1872 | Renamed Chard Junction |
1962 | Chard branch closed |
1966 | Closed to passengers |
1980 | Milk depot closed |
1982 | New signal box built |
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 |
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Chard Junction railway station was situated on the London and South Western Railway’s West of England Main Line in Somerset, England. It was the junction of a short branch line to Chard. It was opened in 1860 as Chard Road and closed in 1966. An adjacent milk depot was served by its own sidings from 1937 to 1980. A signal box remains to control Station Road level crossing and a passing loop on the long section of single track railway between Yeovil Junction and Pinhoe.
Although no longer a station nor a junction, the name 'Chard Junction' still appears on the signal box and official maps.
The London and South Western Railway's (LSWR) line from Yeovil to Exeter was opened on 19 July 1860. A station named 'Chard Road' was provided on the Somerset–Devon border to serve the nearby town of Chard, the 'Road' part of the name indicating that it was not in the town. On 8 May 1863 a 3.6-mile (5.8 km) branch line was opened to Chard Town, but it was not until August 1872 that Chard Road was renamed 'Chard Junction'. A signal box was erected at the junction in 1875.
From 1 January 1917 the branch line was worked by the Great Western Railway (GWR) with the trains and staff that worked its own branch from Taunton to the Chard Joint station that had been opened in 1866. In 1923 the LSWR became a part of the larger Southern Railway (SR).