Kemble railway station

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) as an exchange station on 12 May 1845 with the line opening from Swindon to Gloucester. Only on 1 May 1882 did it become a public station replacing the nearby Tetbury Road.[1]

The distance between the platforms and the large clearance between the remaining running lines is a legacy from when Kemble first opened because it originally accommodated Brunel's 7 ft ¹⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) broad gauge tracks. These were changed to standard gauge tracks in 1892.

Until the 1960s the station was a junction, with services to the nearby market towns of Cirencester (to the northeast) and Tetbury (southwest). Both the Tetbury branch line and the Cirencester Branch Line were closed to traffic under The Reshaping of British Railways, the first day without service being 6 April 1964.

British Rail reduced the line to Swindon to single track in 1968 but the second track was reinstated in 2014 (see Golden Valley Line).

The station has two platforms in use. The former Tetbury bound platform remains but the track has been lifted. The building on the down platform (no. 2) has been out of use for several years, containing toilets and a waiting room, which are still in situ. On the former Cirencester platform, a short stub of track remains for the occasional stabling of track machines. This ends at a buffer stop just before the station car park. In 2013, Cotswold District Council refused an application by Network Rail to demolish part of the Grade II listed Cirencester bay platform in connection with the redoubling of the line from Swindon.[2] According to the Council, the platform was still in a good state of repair and any public benefit from the demolition would not outweigh the damage that would be caused to the historical significance of the station.[2] The station has a ticket office and a small café. The limestone bridge, at the south end of the station, was Grade II listed from 5 Nov 2015[3] and the station[4] and water tank from 27 Feb 1986.[5]

• 
  Diesel-hauled Up stopping train in 1962
• 
  Diesel and steam in 1962
• 
  Signals at Kemble Station
• 
  The former Cirencester platform, June 2009
• 
  The Grade II listed water tank

Great Western Railway operates services from London Paddington to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa using Class 800 trains and local services from Swindon to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa using the Great Western Railway Class 150 and Class 158 DMUs.

Kemble station is served on a Monday to Friday by:

• 18 Swindon bound trains, 8 of which continue to London Paddington via Reading
• 18 Gloucester bound trains, 17 of which continue to Cheltenham Spa.[6]

Making an off peak service of one train every two hours to London, with trains to Swindon, Cheltenham and Gloucester every hour. The station is occasionally served by Cardiff Central / Swansea services diverted during engineering works. On Sundays there are twelve trains each way, seven of which run to or from London.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Swindon		Great Western Railway London/Swindon - Cheltenham		Stroud
		Great Western Railway Cheltenham-Westbury
	Historical railways
Tetbury Road Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway		Minety and Ashton Keynes Line open, station closed
Terminus				Oaksey Halt Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Park Leaze Halt Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Cirencester Branch Line		Terminus
Jackament's Bridge Halt Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Tetbury branch line		Terminus

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kemble railway station.

• History of the line
• Gloucestershire Transport