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The Reading to Taunton line is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line from which it diverges at Reading railway station. It runs to Cogload Junction (east of Taunton) where it joins the Bristol to Exeter and Penzance Line. Since 1906 it has served as the principal route from London to Devon and Cornwall, having been created by the Great Western Railway joining up several earlier railway lines. These included the Berks and Hants Railway from Reading to and part of the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway from to . The whole route is sometimes confusingly called the 'Berks and Hants Line'.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Named railway lines )〕 ==History== The line became a through route on 2 July 1906 with the completion of the Langport and Castle Cary Railway. Before this, from 5 May 1848, through trains from London to Plymouth had run via Bristol: a longer route, often called the "Great Way Round" leaving only a few train services commencing east of Bristol running to Exeter via Bristol. The various sections of line were opened: * Reading to – 21 December 1847 *Hungerford to – 11 November 1862〔 *Patney & Chirton to , Wiltshire – 29 July 1900〔 (the Stert and Westbury Railway) *Westbury to , Somerset – 7 October 1850〔 *Frome to – 1 September 1856〔 *Castle Cary to – 2 July 1905〔 *Charlton Mackrell to – 20 May 1905〔 *Somerton to Curry Rivel Junction – 12 February 1906〔 *Curry Rivel Junction to Athelney Junction – 1 October 1853 as part of Taunton to Yeovil line〔 *Athelney Junction to Cogload Junction – 2 April 1906〔 *Cogload Junction to – 1 June 1842〔 The Reading to Hungerford section was promoted as the Berks and Hants Railway; from there to Patney & Chirton by the Berks and Hants Extension Railway; and from Westbury to Castle Cary by the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway. The section from Cogload Junction to Exeter was built by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, whose Yeovil branch became part of the new main line between Curry Rivel Junction and Athelney Junction, and including Athelney station. The section between Exeter and Plymouth was built by the South Devon Railway Company. These nominally independent companies had all been amalgamated into the Great Western Railway by 1 February 1876, and the remaining broad-gauge lines were closed on 20 May 1892 and converted to standard gauge over the following weekend. A series of cut-off lines were constructed during the following 15 years, establishing the present through route. The Great Western was nationalised on 1 January 1948 as part of the new British Railways. In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying numerous Great Western routes including Reading to Taunton line by 2000. Under the 1979–90 Conservative governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government the proposal was not implemented. Resignalling in the 1980s enabled faster running. This was followed by privatisation in the 1990s, with the line being transferred first to Railtrack and then to its successor Network Rail. 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「Reading to Taunton Line」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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