Worting Junction

Worting Junction
Worting Junction from the east
Overview
Locale	Oakley, Hampshire, England 51°15′09″N 1°09′28″W / 51.25246°N 1.15786°W / 51.25246; -1.15786Coordinates: 51°15′09″N 1°09′28″W / 51.25246°N 1.15786°W / 51.25246; -1.15786
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Services	London to Weymouth (between Basingstoke and Micheldever) London to Exeter (between Basingstoke and Overton)
History
Opened	1854 (1854)
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map Legend SWML to Basingstoke Battledown Flyover WoEML to Salisbury SWML to Winchester

Worting Junction is a railway junction on the former London & South Western Railway route south of Basingstoke where the line divides to go towards Salisbury or Southampton.

History[]

A 1912 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram, on which Worting Junction is shown as Battledown Junction

When the line was first opened in 1854, Worting Junction was constructed as a flat junction.^[1] This required that down trains heading west and up trains from Southampton cross each other's paths. Initially this was not a great problem, however as traffic and speeds increased the junction became a bottleneck. To relieve this, a flying junction was provided to the south, opening on 30 May 1897. This changed the arrangement so that up trains from Southampton line now crossed over the up and down Salisbury lines on Battledown Flyover, 3+1⁄4 miles west of Basingstoke.

Description[]

Battledown Flyover, part of Worting Junction

North of Worting Junction, stopping services to/from London Waterloo and CrossCountry services to/from the North of England via Reading use the outer pair of tracks, while express services to/from London Waterloo use the inner pair of tracks. The inner pair of tracks are unelectrified through the junction and continue towards the west to Salisbury and Exeter.

References[]