Slough railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Slough | |
 |
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|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Slough |
| Local authority | Slough |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | First Great Western |
| Platforms in use | 6 |
| Annual entry/exit | 4.448 million * |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 1840 |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| * based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Slough. Disclaimer (PDF) | |
Slough railway station, in Slough, Berkshire, England, is served by local services operated by First Great Western from London Paddington to Reading. It is also the junction for the Windsor branch. It is on the original line of the Great Western Railway.
Contents |
[edit] History
The arrival of the railway in Slough in 1840 led to Queen Victoria making her first railway journey, from Slough to Bishop's Bridge near Paddington, in 1842. Later, a branch to Windsor and Eton Central was built for the Queen's greater convenience. Nowadays, the journey time between Windsor and Slough is six minutes.
Originally, the headmaster of Eton College, Dr. John Keate, had resisted efforts to place a station closer to Eton College than Slough, because he feared that it would "interfere with the discipline of the school, the studies and amusements of the boys, affecting the healthiness of the place, from the increase of floods, and endangering even the lives of boys." [1] This led to Slough Station becoming, temporarily at least, the Royal Station. It is much bigger and grander than other stations in the area to accommodate its role at the time.
Windsor and Eton Central railway station(served from Slough) and Windsor and Eton Riverside railway station both opened in 1849 despite the opposition from the College.
Its approach road, Mackenzie Street, which ran from the Great West Road to the Station, was much wider than an approach road would otherwise have needed to have been. This was to accommodate the Queen's carriages and entourage. Slough High Street was originally part of the Great West Road, which has now been diverted via Wellington Street, allowing the High Street to be largely pedestrianised. Thus Mackenzie Street became a cul-de-sac in 1970 when Wellington Street was redeveloped, and is now part of the Queensmere Shopping Centre. The remainder of Mackenzie Street, north of the redeveloped Wellington Street, was (along with Station Approach) renamed Brunel Way.
Opposite the railway station once stood the equally grand, in its day, Royal Hotel (now demolished).
On January 1, 1845, John Tawell, who had recently returned from Australia, murdered his lover, Sarah Hart, at Salt Hill in Slough by poisoning her with prussic acid. With various officials in chase, Tawell fled to Slough Station and boarded a train to Paddington. Fortunately, the electric telegraph had recently been installed and a message was sent ahead to Paddington with Tawell's details. Tawell was trailed and subsequently arrested, tried and executed for the murder at Aylesbury on March 28, 1845. This is believed to be the first time that the telegraph had been involved in the apprehension of a murderer.
[edit] The station today
A station upgrade is planned at this major commuter station, with the addition of a baby changing facility, parcels office and 1st class lounge. It is well placed in the town, being only a short walk from the bus station and with a taxi rank directly outside. It has a CCTV security monitoring network that runs all night.
[edit] Architecture
The original station buildings at Slough were of timber construction. A single, long platform was provided, on the south side of the railway, and both London-bound and Bristol-bound trains shared the same platform face – access being achieved through a complicated arrangement of crossings.
The station was rebuilt in the late 19th century in its present form (although some buildings on the island platform were demolished in the 1970's). It is an almost-unique Brunel design; on the Great Western Railway, only one other, much smaller, station was built with the same features. The most notable architectural details are the unusual scalloped roof tiles and the decorative ironwork around the top of the buildings.
The entire station is now Grade II listed.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Slough railway station from National Rail
- Street map and aerial photo of Slough railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Paddington | First Great Western Intercity services Great Western Main Line |
Reading | ||
| Langley | First Great Western Commuter services Great Western Main Line |
Burnham | ||
| Terminus | First Great Western Commuter services Windsor branch |
Windsor & Eton Central |
||
