Swindon railway station
Swindon 
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| Location | |
| Place | Swindon |
| Local authority | Borough of Swindon |
| Coordinates | 51°33′56″N 1°47′07″W / 51.5656°N 1.7854°WCoordinates: 51°33′56″N 1°47′07″W / 51.5656°N 1.7854°W |
| Grid reference | SU149851 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | SWI |
| Managed by | Great Western Railway |
| Number of platforms | 4 |
| DfT category | C1 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 3.235 million |
| 2012/13 |
 3.220 million |
| 2013/14 |
3.350 million |
| 2014/15 |
3.504 million |
| 2015/16 |
3.581 million |
| History | |
| Original company | Great Western Railway |
| Pre-grouping | GWR |
| Post-grouping | GWR |
| 1842 | Opened as "Swindon Junction" |
| 1961 | Renamed "Swindon" |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Swindon from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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Swindon railway station is on the Great Western Main Line in South West England, serving the town of Swindon, Wiltshire. It is 77 miles 23 chains (124.4 km) down-line from London Paddington and is situated between Didcot Parkway and Chippenham on the main line. It is managed by Great Western Railway, which also operates all the trains.
It is an important junction, where the former Great Western Railway line to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa, the main line to Bristol Temple Meads, and the South Wales Main Line via Bristol Parkway diverge.
It is approximately 220 yards (200 m) from the central bus station and the town centre. It is served by GWR services from Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central, Cheltenham Spa via Gloucester, Swansea and the rest of South Wales, and to Westbury.
With the railway passing through the town in early 1841, the Goddard Arms public house in Old Swindon was used as a railway booking office in lieu of a station. Tickets purchased included the fare for a horse-drawn carriage to the line at the bottom of the hill.
Swindon railway station opened in 1842 with construction of the Great Western Railway's engineering works continuing. Until 1895, every train stopped here for at least 10 minutes to change locomotives. Swindon station hosted the first recorded railway refreshment rooms, divided according to class. Swindonians, for a time, were eminently proud that even the current King and Queen of the time had partaken of refreshments there. The station in 1842 was built of three storeys, with the refreshment rooms on the ground floor, the upper floors comprising the station hotel and lounge. Until 1961, when Swindon Town station closed, the station was known as Swindon Junction.
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