Calne - Transport and Infrastructure

Transport and Infrastructure

Calne's former railway station opened in 1863, the terminus of a branch line of the Great Western Railway from Chippenham. There was initially one intermediate stop: Stanley Bridge Halt. The opening of another quite late in the line's history - Black Dog Halt - was not enough to slow the inevitable decline of the line. The branch closed as a result of the Beeching Axe in September 1965, having achieved the dubious distinction of making the biggest loss per mile of track of any line in the country.

The town centre suffers from heavy traffic congestion with large queues stretching along Wood Street, Curzon Street, Oxford Road and The Pippin most of the day. This is caused by North Wiltshire Council's decision to allow only single-file traffic between Curzon Street and Wood Street, with traffic heading towards Wood Street having priority. The A4 through the town is usually close to gridlock during rush hours because of this.

A northern bypass road (part of the A3102 road) was completed in 2001.

Calne is equidistant (12 miles/19 km) from the M4 motorway at Junction 16 (Wootton Bassett/Swindon West) to the north east of Calne, and the westbound M4 junction 17 just north of Chippenham to the northwest. The closest main passenger airport is Bristol Airport, 38 miles (61 km) to the south west. Calne is also one the largest UK towns not served by a rail station, nor does it have a bus station, though in March 2007 it was designated as a National Express stop on route 403 from Bath to London via Heathrow Airport once a day. This service runs with wheelchair-accessible coaches.