Area Cotswold Pre-grouping Great Western Railway | Grid reference ST981987 12 May 1845 Opened as Tetbury Road | |
Place Coates, Gloucestershire Key dates Opened 12 May 1845
Closed 1 May 1882 Original company Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway Similar Downfield Crossing Halt railw, Ebley Crossing Halt railw, Cashes Green Halt railway st, Mickleton Halt railway st, Trouble House Halt railway st | ||
Tetbury Road railway station was built by the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway to serve the Gloucestershire villages of Kemble and Coates, and the town of Tetbury.
History
The station was situated on the main Swindon to Gloucester railway line, to the north of the bridge where the line passes over the Fosse Way. The site was carefully chosen so as to be outside the land around Kemble, which was owned by Robert Gordon, who forbade the construction of a public station on his land.
The Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway (C&GWU) had been authorised on 21 June 1836 to build a line from a junction with the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon to Cheltenham via Kemble, with a branch from the latter point to Cirencester. The first section of the C&GWU from Swindon to Cirencester opened on 31 May 1841; there were no stations between Minety and Cirencester. A junction was later constructed at Kemble, with it, the line from there to Gloucester was opened on 12 May 1845, and the first station on the new line was at Tetbury Road. A station was also built at the junction, but this had no road access, being intended for interchange purposes. In the meantime, the C&GWU had been purchased by the GWR on 1 July 1843.
During the conversion of the Cirencester branch from 7 ft 0 1⁄4 in gauge to standard gauge, which took place between 22–27 May 1872, Cirencester passengers used Tetbury Road station, and were conveyed between the station and Cirencester by omnibus.
When road access to Kemble station was provided from 1 May 1882, Tetbury Road was closed to passengers. It remained open for goods, and on 1 May 1908 was renamed Coates, to prevent goods intended for Tetbury from being sent here by mistake; the Tetbury branch having opened for passengers and goods on 2 December 1889. The station closed completely on 1 July 1963.
The line remains open for passenger services between Swindon and Cheltenham Spa.