Swindon railway station facts for kids

The National Rail logo above the station can be seen from a distance and helps travellers locate it

Swindon railway station is a busy train station located in Swindon, Wiltshire, in the South West England region. It first opened its doors on 17 December 1840, built by a famous company called the Great Western Railway.

This station is an important stop for trains traveling between major cities. You can catch trains from Swindon to London and Bristol. There are also trains that go all the way to Cardiff in Wales. To help more trains run, a new part of the station, called platform 4, was opened in 2003.

Future Plans for the Station

Train stations often get updates to make them better for travelers. In December 2005, there were announcements about improving stations in the Thames Valley area, which includes Swindon.

Making Trains Electric

A big plan was shared on 1 March 2011 by Philip Hammond MP. He was the UK Government's Secretary of State for Transport at the time, which means he was in charge of transport for the country. His plan was to make the main railway line, called the Great Western main line, use electricity instead of diesel. This change would affect the line from Didcot to Swindon, and then on to Bristol and Cardiff, passing through places like Bath Spa and Chippenham.

This means new trains that run on electricity would be built by a company called Hitachi. Using electric trains is good because they are often quieter and produce less pollution. This idea of making the railway electric had actually been talked about before by a previous government official, Lord Andrew Adonis.

Images for kids

• 

  A map from 1906 showing the railway lines around Swindon.