Kemble railway station

Kemble railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire, England. The station is on the Swindon to Gloucester "Golden Valley" line, 90 miles 79 chains (146.4 km) from the zero point at Paddington.^[1] Despite its rural location, Kemble station has a high number of passengers, due mainly to the proximity of Cirencester.

Kemble
Kemble Station
General information
Location	Kemble, Gloucestershire England
Coordinates	51°40′34″N 2°01′23″W
Grid reference	ST985975
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	KEM
Classification	DfT category D
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1882	Opened
1964	Tetbury branch closed
1964	Cirencester branch closed
Passengers
2019/20	0.409 million
2020/21	66,188
2021/22	0.259 million
2022/23	0.353 million
2023/24	0.400 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

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.^[2]

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.

Stationmasters

• Jeremiah Greenaway ca. 1869 – 1900^[3]
• John William Boyd 1900^[4] - 1922^[5] (formerly station master at Tetbury)
• G. Evans 1922 – 1929^[6] (formerly station master at Purton)
• M.E. Waters until 1935^[7] (also station master at Cirencester Town, afterwards station master at Cirencester Town)
• C. Feldwick. 1935 – 1942^[8] (afterwards station master at Cirencester Town)
• Walter John Butt Watts from 1942 (formerly station master at Brimscombe)

Description

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.^[9] 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.^[9] 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 November 2015^[10] and the station^[11] and water tank from 27 February 1986.^[12]

• 
  Diesel-hauled Up stopping train in 1962
• 
  Station entrance
• 
  Signals at Kemble Station
• 
  The former Cirencester platform, June 2009
• 
  Station platforms looking north-west. The old Cirencester line branches to the right.
• 
  The Grade II listed water tank

Services

Great Western Railway operate all services at Kemble using mainly Class 800 bi-mode trains.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[13]

• 1 tph to London Paddington
• 1 tph to Cheltenham Spa via Gloucester

The station is also served by limited services extending beyond Cheltenham Spa to Worcester Shrub Hill. There is also a limited service to/from Westbury via the Wessex Main Line.

The station is occasionally served by trains to and from Cardiff Central and Swansea during periods of engineering work.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Swindon		Great Western Railway Golden Valley Line		Stroud
	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