Station code MAI 2011/12 3.964 million Opened 1 November 1871 Number of platforms 5 | Grid reference SU886807 DfT category C1 – Interchange 0.456 million | |
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Address Maidenhead, United Kingdom Similar Slough railway station, Bourne End railway st, Taplow railway station, Furze Platt railway station, Marlow railway station | ||
First great western high speed train at maidenhead railway station
Maidenhead railway station serves the town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway from London Paddington to Reading, and is also the junction for the Marlow Branch Line. It has five platforms which are accessed through ticket barriers at both entrances to the station. The ticket barriers stop the station being used as a walk through route. The Marlow line platform had an overall roof until 2014 when it was removed in the course of electrification works.
Contents
- First great western high speed train at maidenhead railway station
- Maidenhead railway station slow moving first great western train
- History
- Station Layout
- Services
- Crossrail
- Statue
- References
Maidenhead railway station slow moving first great western train
History
The station is on the original line of the Great Western Railway, which opened as far as Reading in 1840. The original Maidenhead Station lay east of the Thames, not far from the present Taplow station. This was the line's first terminus, pending the completion of the Sounding Arch (Maidenhead Railway Bridge) bridge over the river. In 1854, the Wycombe Railway Company built a line from Maidenhead to High Wycombe, with a station on Castle Hill, at first called "Maidenhead (Wycombe Branch)", later renamed "Maidenhead Boyne Hill". However, there was no station on the present site until 1871, when local contractor William Woodbridge built it. Originally, it was called "Maidenhead Junction", but eventually it came to replace the Boyn Hill station as well as the original station on the Maidenhead Riverside.
In 2008 the station underwent major renovation works and in 2010 a statue of Nicholas Winton was installed on one of the platforms.
Station Layout
The main entrance to the station is on the A308 with a back entrance on Shoppenhangers road. The station has 5 through platforms and no terminating platforms:
Services
As well as regular services to London Paddington (4tph basic, plus weekday peak extras), trains run to Reading (4tph weekdays, half-hourly Saturdays & Sundays) & Oxford (half-hourly weekdays & Saturdays, hourly on Sundays) and to Bourne End & Marlow (hourly, including Sundays).
Crossrail
Maidenhead was initially the planned western terminus of Crossrail Line 1 before an announcement was made in 2014 to move the terminus to Reading. The station is currently undergoing significant modification, including the replacement of the existing passenger waiting facilities, a new ticket hall, lifts, platform extensions to accommodate the longer trains, the introduction of overhead line equipment and the construction of new stabling and turnback facilities to the west of the station.
Statue
In 2010 a statue was erected to honour the man dubbed the "British Schindler" for his work saving Jewish children from Nazi invasion. Sir Nicholas Winton was 29 when he smuggled 669 boys and girls, destined for concentration camps, out of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The statue, on platform three, depicts Winton sitting on a bench reading his famous scrapbook, which contained lists of all the children he helped to save.