Maidenhead railway station

Maidenhead National Rail
Location
Place Maidenhead
Local authority Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Coordinates 51°31′08″N 0°43′23″W / 51.519°N 0.723°W / 51.519; -0.723Coordinates: 51°31′08″N 0°43′23″W / 51.519°N 0.723°W / 51.519; -0.723
Grid reference SU886807
Operations
Station code MAI
Managed by Great Western Railway
Number of platforms 5
DfT category C1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 4.125 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.486 million
2013/14 Increase 4.203 million
– Interchange  Decrease 0.479 million
2014/15 Increase 4.308 million
– Interchange  Increase 0.504 million
2015/16 Increase 4.459 million
– Interchange  Decrease 0.490 million
2016/17 Increase 4.609 million
– Interchange  Decrease 0.486 million
History
Key dates Opened 1 November 1871 (1 November 1871)
Original company Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping GWR
Post-grouping GWR
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Maidenhead from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Maidenhead railway station serves the town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is 24 miles 19 chains (39.0 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Taplow to the east and Twyford to the west.

It is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway and is also the junction for the Marlow Branch Line. It has five platforms which are accessed through ticket barriers at both entrances to the station. The Marlow line platform had an overall roof until 2014 when it was removed in the course of electrification works.

History

Maidenhead station in 1953

The station is on the original line of the Great Western Railway, which opened as far as Reading in 1840. The original Maidenhead Station lay east of the Thames, not far from the present Taplow station. This was the line's first terminus, pending the completion of the Sounding Arch (Maidenhead Railway Bridge) bridge over the river. In 1854, the Wycombe Railway Company built a line from Maidenhead to High Wycombe, with a station on Castle Hill, at first called "Maidenhead (Wycombe Branch)", later renamed "Maidenhead Boyne Hill". However, there was no station on the present site until 1871, when local contractor William Woodbridge built it. Originally, it was called "Maidenhead Junction", but eventually it came to replace the Boyn Hill station as well as the original station on the Maidenhead Riverside.[1]

In 2008 the station underwent major renovation works[2] and in 2010 a statue of Nicholas Winton was installed on one of the platforms.

A 1945 Ordnance Survey of Maidenhead showing the location of the station
Maidenhead railway station entrance and car park

Current station

Station layout

The main entrance to the station is on the A308 with a back entrance on Shoppenhangers Road. The station has five through platforms and no terminating platforms:[3]

  • Platform 1 - For westbound trains on the main line. This platform is mainly used during peak times, as outside these times few trains on the main line stop at Maidenhead. It is outside of the ticket barriers at Shoppenhangers Road and the gate to the platform is only opened when a train is due to arrive.
  • Platform 2 - For eastbound trains on the main line. This platform is mainly used during peak times, as outside these times few trains on the main line stop at Maidenhead.
  • Platform 3 - For westbound trains on the relief line. The concourse is shared with platform 2.
  • Platform 4 - For eastbound trains on the relief line.
  • Platform 5 - For trains serving the Marlow branch line. Trains either begin/terminate here or continue to or from London on the relief line. This shares a concourse with platform 4.

Services

As well as regular services to London Paddington (4tph basic, plus weekday peak extras), trains run to Reading (4tph weekdays, half-hourly Saturdays & Sundays) and to Bourne End & Marlow (hourly, including Sundays).[4]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Twyford or Reading   Great Western Railway
Great Western Main Line		   Taplow or Slough
Terminus   Great Western Railway
Marlow Branch Line		   Furze Platt
  Future Development  
Preceding station   Crossrail   Following station
towards Reading
Crossrail
Elizabeth line
towards Abbey Wood

Crossrail

Maidenhead was initially the planned western terminus of Crossrail Line 1 before an announcement was made in 2014 to move the terminus to Reading.[5] Most Elizabeth Line trains will terminate at Maidenhead, with only two per hour continuing to Reading, so sidings will be built at Maidenhead to support.

The station is currently undergoing significant modification, including the replacement of the existing passenger waiting facilities, a new ticket hall, lifts, platform extensions to accommodate the longer trains, the introduction of overhead line equipment and the construction of new stabling and turnback facilities to the west of the station.[6][7]

Statue

In 2010 a statue was erected to honour the man dubbed the "British Schindler" for his work saving Jewish children from Nazi invasion. Sir Nicholas Winton was 29 when he smuggled 669 boys and girls, destined for concentration camps, out of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The statue, on platform three, depicts Winton sitting on a bench reading his famous scrapbook, which contained lists of all the children he helped to save.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Over 2001, para. 8.
  2. ↑ Justin Burns (25 September 2008). "Train station refurbishment unveiled". Maidenhead Advertiser. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Maidenhead". www.chiark.greenend.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  4. ↑ GB eNRT December 2015 Edition, Tables 117 & 120
  5. ↑ "DfT and TfL Extend Crossrail Route to Reading". Crossrail.
  6. ↑ Paul Miles (6 December 2012). "Crossrail work begins at Maidenhead train station". Maidenhead Advertiser. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Maidenhead station". Crossrail. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  8. ↑ "Statue for 'British Schindler' Sir Nicholas Winton". 18 September 2010 – via www.bbc.co.uk.

References

  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  • Over, Luke (September 2001). Delaney, Peter, ed. "The Railway Comes to Maidenhead". Wargrave Local History Society. Archived from the original on 25 March 2005. Retrieved 26 November 2005.
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