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The Stert and Westbury Railway was opened by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900 in Wiltshire, England. It shortened the distance between London Paddington station and , and since 1906 has also formed part of the Reading to Taunton line for a shorter journey from London to . ==History== The Great Western Railway (GWR) had opened its main line between London Paddington and in 1841. It was extended westwards through and trains were running through to by 1867. Another route left the main line at Thingley Junction near that ran south to in 1848 and was extended to Weymouth in 1857. Both these lines carried trains connecting with ships – from the Channel Islands at Weymouth, and from America at Plymouth – but the GWR was sometimes referred to as the 'Great Way Round' as its routes to these places were longer than the rival London and South Western Railway. In 1895 the GWR started work on laying a second track on the Berks and Hants Extension Railway which was part of a route westwards from to , and on constructing the Stert and Westbury line that would connect the Berks and Hants line with Westbury. The new line was ready for goods traffic on 29 July 1900 and passenger trains started to use the line on 1 October. The new line was long〔 and reduced the distance from Paddington to Westbury and Weymouth by .〔 From 2 July 1906 the line was also carrying trains from Paddington to Penzance due to the opening of the Langport and Castle Cary Railway which shortened this journey by . Westbury station had been rebuilt in 1899 in preparation for the additional trains and two lines were added later to allow non-stop trains to avoid the congested station area. In 1933 a connection from the Stert line ran along a new route to the east of the station and rejoined the main line some distance to the west. Another connection was opened in 1942 to allow westbound trains from the Stert line to run directly to the north towards Chippenham or Bristol, one of many short connecting lines built around the network during World War II. The GWR was nationalised to become the Western Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948. Local passenger trains were withdrawn on the line on 18 April 1966 but it still forms an important link in the London to Penzance Line and carries freight traffic from the quarries in the Mendip Hills towards terminals in London and the South East. The 1942 curve at Westbury also allows it to be used as a diversionary route when the Great Western Main Line through is blocked. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stert and Westbury Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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