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There were two Chard Branch Lines serving the town of Chard in Somerset, England. One was a northward branch, opened in 1863, from the Salisbury to Exeter main line, and the other, opened in 1866, ran south-eastwards from the Bristol – Taunton main line. Each branch had its own Chard passenger station at first, although the two lines connected in Chard. Although the town had an important history, it was declining during the second half of the twentieth century and the branch lines retained a rural character. They were operated as a single entity from 1917, but finally closed to passenger traffic in 1962, and to goods traffic in 1966. ==Before the railway== Chard had been an important commercial centre in the eighteenth century, based on linen drapery, shoemaking, wool and machine-made lace and cloth manufacture; during the canal age, a canal was built to connect the town to the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Creech St. Michael. It was completed in 1842 but it was never commercially viable.〔〔Thomas (1990), pp. 23–24.〕 (詳細はBristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) had opened its line to Taunton on 1 July 1842, giving rail access to London.〔 The canal company sought Parliamentary approval to convert the canal to a railway, and it obtained an Act of Parliament to do so between Creech St Michael on the B&ER to Ilminster. The Act was passed on 16 July 1846; the Company obtained a second Act in 1847 to extend the railway to Chard. However the Chard Canal Company was in financial difficulty at this time and the necessary capital was not available; the powers lapsed, and the Chard Canal Company went into bankruptcy administration in 1853. 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「Chard Branch Line」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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