Stroud railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Stroud

---

code = STD
manager = First Great Western
locale = Stroud
borough = Stroud
usage0405 = 0.268
usage0506 = 0.281
usage0607 = 0.317
platforms = 2
start =

Stroud railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire, England. The station is located on the Swindon-Gloucester "Golden Valley" line. It was opened on 12 May 1845 with the opening of the Kemble to Gloucester section of the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway, later part of the Great Western Railway. For a period between 1886 and 1947 when Stroud had two passenger railway stations, it was known as Stroud Great Western, Stroud Russell Street or Stroud Central. Stroud's second station, Stroud Wallgate, was the terminus of a short branch line from the Midland Railway's Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway, and freight services were always more important there than passengers. [Cite book
author = Mike Oakley
title = "Gloucestershire Railway Stations"
edition = 2003
publisher = Dovecote Press, Wimborne
ISBN = 1 904349 24 2
page = pp128–129] A detailed and interesting history of the Swindon-to-Gloucester line can be found at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davidlloyd/CGWURLYHOME.htm

Current configuration

Stroud station has two platforms, and is served by First Great Western: operating services from London Paddington to Gloucester and Cheltenham using HST and "Adelante" Class 180 trains, and local services from Swindon to Gloucester and Cheltenham using the former Wessex Trains Class 143 two carriage sets.

Service to Stroud could be improved if the line were redoubled between Swindon and Kemble. The 12 miles of second track was removed in the summer of 1968. Network Rail has examined this option, and put the cost at £32million. The 2007 Network Rail business plan mentioned the Swindon/Kemble redoubling as expected in September 2009. However, the Office of Rail Regulation has now decided against including the redoubling in Network Rail's 2009-2014 plans for trackwork. Instead, £51million is to be spent on redoubling parts of the Oxford to Worcester line. The N.R. 2009-2014 plans are still in draft, and the Office of Rail Regulation is accepting submissions until 4 September 2008 on amending the plans. All of the Cotswolds' MPs are presently (August 2008) involved, along with Gloucester County Council, Network Rail and First Great Western in bringing forward a submission to the O.R.R. on including Swindon/Kemble redoubling in the 2009-2014 plans. Further information on this is available at the Gloucestershire Transport website: http://www.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/boards/ under the article 'Swindon/Kemble Bottleneck'; see, in particular, post #106 for information on writing to the O.R.R. The recent (30 June 2008) Parliamentary debate on the Swindon/Kemble redoubling can be read at: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2008-06-30a.703.0&m=1494

Current services

Stroud 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.

The Greater Western Franchise's new timetable came into effect from 11th December 2006. Thanks to First Great Western, Stroud has benefited from an almost hourly clockface timetable throughout the day Monday to Friday, instead of the large and small gaps between services which can be seen in the previous timetable.Fact|date=May 2007

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Ticket office information

The station does have a ticket office, located on the Swindon bound platform, which is open for the majority of the day, seven days a week:

*Monday - Friday: 0630 to 1800
*Saturday: 0715 to 1430
*Sunday: 1030 to 1720

At times when the ticket office is closed, the station is unmanned.

External links

*The full timetable is available [http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Documents/Custom/Timetables/December%202006/Book%20A%20REVISED%20(London,%20Cheltenham,%20Bristol,%20South%20Wales,%20Somerset).pdf here] .

References