Transport
- Roads
The main road through the town is the A3102 road, which connects it to Swindon to the east and Melksham to the south west, a town in the west of the county. The only other numbered road out of the town is the B4042 road, which runs to Malmesbury in the west. Opened in 1971, the town is also close to Junction 16 of the M4 motorway connecting London with South Wales, allowing easy access to other towns and cities of the M4 corridor.
- Railways
Royal Wootton Bassett has no railway station, although it has been served in the past by three railway stations, and is a major junction on the rail network, being the location where the South Wales Main Line branches off of the Great Western Main Line. As such, stations nearby offer direct connections to London, the South West and South Wales.
The first station to serve the town was Wootton Bassett Road, opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1840 some distance from the town (sometimes referred to as Hay Lane), when the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington reached the town. After just a year, with the completion of the Box Tunnel allowing the line to reach Bristol Temple Meads, this was replaced by the closer Wootton Bassett railway station. In 1903, after the new South Wales branch opened, the station was demolished and rebuilt as Wootton Bassett Junction at the junction of the two lines. British Railways closed that station in 1965. There have been on-going attempts to re-open a station in the early 21st century. Commuters wishing to use train services would have to travel to Swindon or Chippenham for regular services to London and the West Country.
- Waterways
The route of the former Wilts & Berks Canal passes through Royal Wootton Bassett parish south of the town. The canal reached Wootton Bassett parish from Semington in 1801 and was completed when it reached Abingdon in 1810. The last narrowboat traffic to Wootton Bassett was in 1906 and the canal was abandoned by Act of Parliament in 1914. The canal is now being restored by the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust.
Read more about this topic: Royal Wootton Bassett
Famous quotes containing the word transport:
“One may disavow and disclaim vices that surprise us, and whereto our passions transport us; but those which by long habits are rooted in a strong and ... powerful will are not subject to contradiction. Repentance is but a denying of our will, and an opposition of our fantasies.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)