A busy and very warm afternoon at Maidenhead situated on the Great Western Mainline on the afternoon of Saturday 7th July 2018. We were watching the England v Sweden game, but i was more focused on getting the trains. Heathrow is nearby here and they were taking off on RWY27L which ment they went over this way if they were heading towards America or the North, these are eventually shown in the video.
Maidenhead info:
Maidenhead railway station serves the town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is 24 miles 19 chains (39.0 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Taplow to the east and Twyford to the west.
It is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway and is also the junction for the Marlow Branch Line. It has five platforms which are accessed through ticket barriers at both entrances to the station. The Marlow line platform had an overall roof until 2014 when it was removed in the course of electrification works.
History:
The station is on the original line of the Great Western Railway, which opened as far as Reading in 1840. The original Maidenhead Station lay east of the Thames, not far from the present Taplow station. This was the line's first terminus, pending the completion of the Sounding Arch (Maidenhead Railway Bridge) bridge over the river. In 1854, the Wycombe Railway Company built a line from Maidenhead to High Wycombe, with a station on Castle Hill, at first called "Maidenhead (Wycombe Branch)", later renamed "Maidenhead Boyne Hill". However, there was no station on the present site until 1871, when local contractor William Woodbridge built it. Originally, it was called "Maidenhead Junction", but eventually it came to replace the Boyn Hill station as well as the original station on the Maidenhead Riverside.
In 2008 the station underwent major renovation works and in 2010 a statue of Nicholas Winton was installed on one of the platforms.
Station layout:
The main entrance to the station is on the A308 with a back entrance on Shoppenhangers Road. The station has five through platforms and no terminating platforms:
Platform 1 - For westbound trains on the main line. This platform is mainly used during peak times, as outside these times few trains on the main line stop at Maidenhead. It is outside of the ticket barriers at Shoppenhangers Road and the gate to the platform is only opened when a train is due to arrive.
Platform 2 - For eastbound trains on the main line. This platform is mainly used during peak times, as outside these times few trains on the main line stop at Maidenhead.
Platform 3 - For westbound trains on the relief line. The concourse is shared with platform 2.
Platform 4 - For eastbound trains on the relief line.
Platform 5 - For trains serving the Marlow branch line. Trains either begin/terminate here or continue to or from London on the relief line. This shares a concourse with platform 4.
Services:
As well as regular services to London Paddington (4tph basic, plus weekday peak extras), trains run to Reading (4tph weekdays, half-hourly Saturdays & Sundays) and to Bourne End & Marlow (hourly, including Sundays).
Crossrail:
Maidenhead was initially the planned western terminus of Crossrail Line 1 before an announcement was made in 2014 to move the terminus to Reading. Most Elizabeth Line trains will terminate at Maidenhead, with only two per hour continuing to Reading, so sidings will be built at Maidenhead to support.
The station is currently undergoing significant modification, including the replacement of the existing passenger waiting facilities, a new ticket hall, lifts, platform extensions to accommodate the longer trains, the introduction of overhead line equipment and the construction of new stabling and turnback facilities to the west of the station.
Statue:
In 2010 a statue was erected to honour the man dubbed the "British Schindler" for his work saving Jewish children from Nazi invasion. Sir Nicholas Winton was 29 when he smuggled 669 boys and girls, destined for concentration camps, out of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The statue, on platform three, depicts Winton sitting on a bench reading his famous scrapbook, which contained lists of all the children he helped to save.