South Wales Main Line

The South Wales Main Line is a railway line in Britain. It branches at Wootton Bassett near Swindon from the Great Western Main Line and runs through the seven -kilometer-long Severn Tunnel to South Wales. About Newport and Cardiff finally it reaches Swansea.

For the regional transport in Wales, the railway company Arriva Trains Wales is responsible, while First Great Western offers fast trains to London. East of Cardiff run individual trains from Central Trains and Virgin Trains as well as regional trains by First Great Western to Bristol.

History

The original route of the Great Western Railway ( GWR ) between London and South Wales branched off at Swindon on the Great Western Main Line and made ​​a detour to Stroud, Gloucester and Chepstow, before they came east from Newport back on the today still existing route. For this reason, the GWR had the nickname Great Way Round ( " great way around ", meaning " long way round ").

The Severn Tunnel was opened in 1886 and shortened the travel time to South Wales for over an hour. The trains ran from Swindon via Bristol and on to the tunnel. 1903 was the opening of the so-called Badminton Line. This 53 km long route via Chipping Sodbury allowed a further significant reduction in traveling time, because the detour via Bristol Temple Meads could be omitted. In addition, the tendency to tunnel ramp for coal trains was easier to deal with.

Infrastructure

On the section between the Severn Tunnel Junction railway station and Cardiff the range is expanded to four tracks, the remaining sections are twofold. The maximum permitted speed between London and the Severn Tunnel is 125 mph (201 km / h), between the Severn Tunnel and Swansea reach the trains 90 mph (144 km / h). On some short sections, however, the speed limits are lower. There are plans to renew in Wales the tracks and signals and thus to increase the speed.