The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain, that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great Western, the South Wales Main Line, diverges from the core line west of Swindon and terminates in Swansea. The term "Great Western" is also used by Network Rail and other rail transport organisations in the UK rail industry to denote a wider group of routes, see Associated routes below.
The core London–Bristol Temple Meads line is the original route of the pre-1948 Great Western Railway which was subsequently taken over by the Western Region of British Railways and is now part of the Network Rail system.
It is planned to electrify the line by 2016. The South Wales Main Line, the Cherwell Valley Line and the Reading to Taunton Line as far as Newbury will also be electrified at later dates.
Read more about Great Western Main Line: History, Route, Services, Infrastructure, Planned Developments
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