Appleford railway station

Appleford
General information
Location	Appleford-on-Thames, Vale of White Horse England
Grid reference	SU525936
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	APF
Classification	DfT category F2
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	GWR
Post-grouping	GWR
Key dates
12 June 1844	Station opened with the line
February 1849	Station closed
11 September 1933	Station reopened as Appleford Halt
5 May 1969	Renamed Appleford
Passengers
2018/19	7,504
2019/20	7,232
2020/21	1,768
2021/22	5,336
2022/23	7,234
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Appleford railway station serves the village of Appleford-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, England, as well as nearby settlements such as Sutton Courtenay. It is on the Cherwell Valley Line between Didcot Parkway and Banbury, 55 miles 16 chains (88.8 km) measured from London Paddington. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway.

Layout

The station entrance is on a humpback bridge and passengers must descend steep steps to the platforms.

Platform 1 is for Down trains towards Oxford, and Platform 2 is for Up trains towards Didcot Parkway. South of the station is a pedestrian level crossing; the barrier is normally lowered with lights off. The user has to press a button for the signaller to raise the barriers; then they are lowered again once the user is clear of the crossing. The lights are only used to warn people that the barriers are coming down.

History

The station opened originally with the line from Didcot to Oxford, on 12 June 1844. It had been planned and partly built by the Oxford Railway, which was absorbed into the Great Western Railway before the opening of the line. It was however closed after just a few years in February 1849.

The Great Western Railway reopened the station as "Appleford Halt" on 11 September 1933 in response to growing competition from buses.

The station then passed to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

British Rail discontinued its "Halt" suffix on 5 May 1969. The station was served by Network SouthEast when sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s.

Unusually, until recently it retained the original wooden platforms and corrugated iron pagoda-roofed waiting shelters. These have been replaced by "bus shelter"-like waiting shelters. The station has never been staffed; originally passengers could buy tickets at the village post office, but since this has closed, they need to buy tickets from the guard.

Services

Appleford station is served by stopping services run by Great Western Railway between Didcot Parkway and Oxford. In total there are 12 services each way with a two-hourly interval between trains, but shorter intervals at peak times. Most services continue beyond Oxford towards Banbury.

Since the start of the Winter 2014 timetable, trains no longer call at Appleford on Sundays, and since the start of the Winter 2018 timetable, the direct link to London Paddington was cut, in order for electric trains to run between Reading and Didcot Parkway.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Culham		Great Western Railway Cherwell Valley Line		Didcot Parkway

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Station on navigable O.S. map.