Ascot railway station (Berkshire)

Not to be confused with Ascott-under-Wychwood railway station.

Ascot railway station serves the town of Ascot in Berkshire, England. It is 28 miles 79 chains (46.7 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South Western Railway. It is at the junction of the Waterloo to Reading line with the Ascot to Guildford line.

Ascot
General information
Location	Ascot, Windsor and Maidenhead England
Grid reference	SU921682
Managed by	South Western Railway
Platforms	3
Other information
Station code	ACT
Classification	DfT category C2
Key dates
4 June 1856	Opened
1 February 1857	Renamed Ascot & Sunninghill
10 July 1921	Renamed Ascot
Passengers
2018/19	1.235 million
Interchange	0.278 million
2019/20	1.119 million
Interchange	0.268 million
2020/21	0.155 million
Interchange	71,831
2021/22	0.551 million
Interchange	0.176 million
2022/23	0.821 million
Interchange	0.225 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

v t e Ascot–Ash Vale Jn
Legend
Waterloo–Reading line to Reading & Waterloo Ascot 28 mi 79 ch 46.65 km Bagshot 32 mi 08 ch 51.66 km Guildford Road Viaduct Bagshot Tunnel Camberley 35 mi 30 ch 56.93 km Frimley 37 mi 48 ch 60.51 km South West Main Line to Weymouth & Waterloo Mytchett Lake Railway Bridge Alton line to Pirbright Jn Ash Vale Jn 40 mi 57 ch 65.52 km Ash Vale Alton line to Alton

The station has three active platforms. The London-bound track is a single track with platform faces on either side, both of which are called Platform 1. Until some time prior to 2008, both faces could be used to board London-bound trains, but now only the doors on the ticket office side of the train open with the other side now being fenced off. Platform 2 serves the Reading-bound line, and Platform 3 serves the Guildford line for trains starting and terminating their journeys at Ascot. Where trains are running from London through to Guildford, or vice versa, they use Platform 2. All lines are bi-directional.

History

The Staines, Wokingham and Woking Junction Railway opened the station when it reached Ascot on 4 June 1856. On 9 July the line was extended to Wokingham. On 18 March 1878^[1] Ascot became a junction when the line towards Ash Vale was opened. Later the London and South Western Railway took over the SWWJR. In the Grouping of 1923 the L&SWR became part of the Southern Railway, which electrified both lines using a third rail system on 1 January 1939. Under nationalisation in 1948 Ascot station became part of the Southern Region of British Railways.

The L&SWR opened Ascot Race Course Platform or Ascot West in 1922 to serve Ascot Racecourse. BR closed it in 1965.^[1]

Ascot had four signal boxes until the 1960s – "A" and "B" boxes controlled the main station, West box controlled the racecourse station and "Drake & Mount's Siding" the carriage sidings east of the station.^[2][3][4] The line through the station is now under the control of the panel box at Feltham.

When BR sectorised itself in the 1980s, the station was made part of Network SouthEast.

In 1982 a fire severely damaged the station buildings on the "up" (London-bound) side.^[5]

Services

All services at Ascot are operated by South Western Railway.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[6]

• 2 tph to London Waterloo via Richmond
• 2 tph to Reading
• 2 tph to Aldershot via Camberley

Additional services call at the station during the peak hours. In addition, during the Royal Ascot week, the services through the station are significantly increased.

On Sundays, the services to and from Aldershot are reduced to hourly and are extended to and from Guildford.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Sunningdale		South Western Railway Waterloo to Reading Line		Martins Heron
Terminus		South Western Railway Ascot to Guildford Line		Bagshot

Notes

1. Body 1984, p. 36
2. Ascot 'A' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; retrieved 13 April 2016
3. Ascot 'B' Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; retrieved 13 April 2016
4. Ascot West Signal Box diagramSignalling Record Society; retrieved 13 April 2016
5. Body 1984, p. 35.
6. Table 149 National Rail timetable, June 2024

References

• Body, G (1984). PSL Field Guides – Railways of the Southern Region. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Ltd. pp. 35–36. ISBN 0-85059-664-5.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.

External links

• Train times and station information for Ascot railway station (Berkshire) from National Rail
• Ascot railway station (Berkshire) in the 1866 edition of Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain & Ireland
• Station on navigable Ordnance Survey map

51.406°N 0.676°W / 51.406; -0.676