Chertsey Branch Line
| Chertsey branch / Chertsey loop line | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Siemens Class 450 approaching Chertsey from the east
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| Overview | |
| Type | Suburban rail, Heavy rail |
| System | National Rail |
| Status | Operational |
| Locale | Surrey, South East England |
| Stations | 4 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1849 |
| Owner | Network Rail |
| Operator(s) | South West Trains |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 5.5 miles (8.9 km) |
| Number of tracks | 2 |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Electrification | Yes |
The Chertsey branch line, opened in 1848, connects the Waterloo to Reading Line at Virginia Water to the South Western Main Line at Weybridge. It is also referred to as the Weybridge branch line, or by its more accurate description since 1866, the Chertsey loop. For passenger services it has a terminus siding at Weybridge otherwise its other three stations are through stations and serve the modest-population settlements Chertsey, Addlestone and Virginia Water. Day trip steam excursions share in use of the line sometimes calling at London Waterloo, Staines, Woking and stations and others before Salisbury, Yeovil, Dorchester and/or Bath towards the far south-west of the country.
On 16 July 1846, the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) was authorised to construct a railway line from Weybridge to Egham, close to Staines Bridge. This was opened as far as Chertsey on 14 February 1848. The planned section beyond was not built by the LSWR, because a different company – the Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway (WS&SWR) – was authorised on 25 June 1847 to build a line from Staines to Pirbright and a branch from that line to Chertsey, where it would connect with the LSWR branch from Weybridge. The WS&SWR line was not built, and the powers expired.
On 23 June 1864, the LSWR was authorised to construct an extension 2 1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) long from Chertsey to meet the Staines, Wokingham and Windsor Junction Railway (SW&WJR) at Virginia Water, and this line opened on 1 October 1866. The line was double-track, and at its northern end there was a single-track spur facing Reading; this spur was doubled on 4 August 1897.
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Wikipedia