Staines West
Main building seen from the south in 2017
General information
LocationStaines-upon-Thames, Spelthorne
England
Grid referenceTQ033718
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyStaines & West Drayton Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
2 November 1885 (1885-11-02)Opened as "Staines"
26 September 1949Renamed "Staines West"
29 March 1965 (1965-03-29)Closed

Staines West railway station was one of three stations in the town of Staines-upon-Thames, 19 miles (31 km) west of central London. The station was opened on 2 November 1885 as the southern terminus of the Staines & West Drayton Railway (SWDR).

History

The station was originally named "Staines", although the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) already had a Staines railway station on the opposite side of the town centre. The LSWR had refused access to its station because the SWDR was operated by the rival Great Western Railway (GWR). The two companies competed to Windsor and Reading, Berkshire and the LSWR regarded the SWDR as encroaching on its territory in Staines. The third station, Staines High Street station, closed in 1916 after only 32 years in operation.

The station was in Wraysbury Road at the junction with Moor Lane. The building was a 19th-century villa of London stock brick that had been built for the owner of the adjacent Pound Mill on the River Colne. The SWDR bought the house from the miller and had it converted it into the station building. Tracks and a goods yard were laid north of the house and a single platform with a short canopy was built.

The station in August 1962 with a British Rail Class 121 at the platform

On 26 September 1949 British Railways renamed the station "Staines West". In 1964 it had 14 trains on weekdays. On 29 March 1965 BR withdrew passenger services on the branch and closed the station.[1][2][3]

After closure to passengers the goods yard was demolished and a rail-accessed oil storage depot built in its place in 1964.[4] In 1981 then the line north of the station was severed by the building of the M25 motorway so a new link to the Windsor line was laid to serve the oil depot. It closed ten years later.[5]

The station building survives and has been converted into commercial offices. The platforms have been replaced with a car park and the tracks have been removed to make way for a small building.

The Heathrow Airtrack scheme for a rail link between Heathrow Airport and the South West Trains network would have appropriated part of the Staines West route.[6]

Staines–Windsor line
 Windsor & Eton Riverside
Black Potts Bridge
over River Thames
Black Potts Viaduct
over Jubilee River
Mays Level
Crossing (MCB-CCTV)
B470
Datchet Level
Crossing (MCB-CCTV)
 Datchet
 Sunnymeads
 Wraysbury
Colne Brook
M25
River Wraysbury
Staines & West Drayton Railway
to West Drayton
World War II link (1940–1947)
A30
Reversing point for oil trains
Oil terminal link (1981–1991)
Oil terminal (1964–1991)
 Staines West
River Colne
 Staines High Street
Waterloo–Reading line
to Reading
 Staines
Waterloo–Reading line
to London Waterloo

References

  1. ↑ 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. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  2. ↑ Catford, Nick. "Staines West". Disused Stations.
  3. ↑ "Staines West – West Drayton". Abandoned Stations.
  4. ↑ "STAINES WEST". disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  5. ↑ Airtrack Home Page Archived 24 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Topham, Gwyn (15 June 2019). "Left in a siding: the rail link that could make Heathrow greener". The Observer.

Further reading

  • Leigh, Chris (1981). GWR Country Stations. Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. ISBN 0-7110-1108-7.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Staines West railway station.
  • "Staines". New Popular Edition Maps. – navigable Ordnance Survey Seventh Series 1:63,360 map showing Staines West railway station
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Terminus   Staines & West Drayton Railway
Staines West branch		   Yeoveney Halt

51°26′10″N 0°30′55″W / 51.4362°N 0.5153°W / 51.4362; -0.5153

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