Dorchester West railway station

Dorchester West
Location
Place	Dorchester
Local authority	District of West Dorset
Coordinates	50°42′40″N 2°26′35″W / 50.711°N 2.443°W / 50.711; -2.443Coordinates: 50°42′40″N 2°26′35″W / 50.711°N 2.443°W / 50.711; -2.443
Grid reference	SY688902
Operations
Station code	DCW
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2010/11	75,276
2011/12	64,776
2012/13	0.131 million
2013/14	0.134 million
2014/15	0.131 million
– Interchange	51
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
1857	Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Dorchester West from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Dorchester West railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Dorchester in Dorset, England. The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who provide most services at this station. South West Trains operate some Summer Saturday only services from London Waterloo and Yeovil Junction.

The station is located on the Heart of Wessex Line between Castle Cary and Weymouth and is at the southern end of a single track section from Maiden Newton. The line becomes double at the station and remains so to nearby Dorchester Junction where it joins the main line from London Waterloo station to Weymouth.

History

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 20 January 1857, when it completed the former Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth line from Castle Cary and Yeovil through to Weymouth.

An accident occurred at this station in 1974 when an excursion train from Hereford to Weymouth, on its return journey, did not stop at the signal controlling the entry to the single line section, and ran into the sand drag. The locomotive (a Class 47) ran right through the sand drag and out the other side, followed by a couple of coaches. Eighteen passengers suffered minor injuries in the derailment, but no one was seriously hurt.^[1] The passengers were taken home by train via Southampton later that evening, and the loco was subsequently re-railed and recovered during the night several weeks later.

In the late 1980s, the station gained attention as being one of the worst-maintained stations in the country. Subsequent renovations have brought it up to a much more respectable standard.

Services

A train leaving for Weymouth

Great Western Railway operate services between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth (eight trains per day Mon-Sat, five on Sundays - some extended to/from Gloucester).^[2] South West Trains run an additional service running once or twice on Saturdays between Weymouth to London Waterloo operating from late May to early September each year.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Maiden Newton		Great Western Railway Weymouth Wizard (Summer Saturdays Only)		Weymouth
		Great Western Railway Heart of Wessex Line		Upwey
		South West Trains Heart of Wessex Line (Summer Saturdays Only)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dorchester West railway station.

• Dorchester South railway station
• Ordnance Survey 1937 map of Dorchester showing the location of the two stations

Notes