Swindon is one of the traditional railway enthusiasts' meccas, as the 'Railway Town' of the Great Western Railway (GWR), and its station has a complex but interesting history. It is still an important and busy station to-day. The line - built by the famous engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened on 17th December 1840, to a temporary terminus at Wootton Bassett, and through to Bristol on 30th June 1841. When the GWR was being planned, Brunel and his engine designer, Daniel Gooch, decided that Swindon would make a good place to locate the main engine depot and engineering works. As well as being the junction for the line to Cheltenham and Gloucester, it was also the point at which the relatively level line from London changed to the more steeply-graded section to Bath. This was important in the early days, when steam locomotives were relatively under-powered, and the idea was that different engines would work the two sections. The GWR built what was effectively a new town - initially called 'New Swindon' - with a railway works, depot, 300 cottages for the staff, and a new station, opened in 1842. The station was - unusually - paid for by the building contractors at their own expense, and to recoup their outlay they built the first ever railway refreshment rooms (separate rooms being provided for First- and Second-Class passengers). The GWR agreed that all trains should stop there for a 10-minute refreshment break as they changed locomotives, which they did until 1895. But from the start refreshment rooms were famously awful - beginning the dreadful reputation of railway buffets! With a captive market, the owners charged high prices for inferior food and drink. Coffee was dispensed from an impressive silver urn in the shape of a locomotive, but this did nothing to improve its flavour. Even Brunel himself was moved to write this wonderfully stinging letter to the owners, in December 1842: " Dear Sir, I assure you Mr Player [the manager] was wrong in supposing that I thought you purchased inferior coffee. I thought I said to him that I was surprised you should buy such bad roasted corn. I did not believe that you had such a thing as coffee in the place; I am certain that I never tasted any. I have long ceased to make complaints at Swindon. I avoid taking anything there when I can help it. Yours faithfully, I K Brunel." To-day, railway Swindon is a shadow of its former self, with the works closed, albeit with some of the handsome buildings (Grade I listed) retained as workshops and the railway museum 'Steam'. But the main island platform buildings survive from the 1842 station, together with a new platform on the south side, opened in 2004. The historic refreshment rooms were located on the south side of the station, but sadly no longer exist, having been demolished in 1972 - in an astonishing piece of corporate vandalism by the former BR - to make way for the ghastly office block that now occupies the site. The growth and affluence of modern Swindon means that this is a busy station, serving nearly 2.5 million passengers a year, and remains the junction for the line to Stroud, Gloucester and Cheltenham. All trains from London to Bristol, Cardiff and Cheltenham stop here, as well as the occasional direct service to Oxford, offering a fast train to London every 15 minutes during the day, Mondays-Saturdays. The station has a couple of cafes (I've not tasted the coffee, though!), a small newsagents, waiting rooms and is fully accessible. read more

Swindon Station - Contemporary woodcut print of the First-Class refreshment Room, Swindon , c. 1850 - Train Stations Near Me - Swindon, SWD

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Clean efficient station with helpful staff. Lovely comfortable clean train to London Paddington

Swindon hasn't got the greatest reputation, but I've always found the people friendly. This includes the staff at this station. It's the only place yet I've had train staff ask to say hello to my cat when I'm travelling with her (which is good, as she gets miffed about people ignoring her when she meows at them) and on a recent visit my mum was offered the chance to go onto the platform to see me off. As for the station, like much of Swindon, it's not pretty. The platforms are above street level so accessed through an underpass and up stairs. There are lifts, toilets and inside seating areas with a modern feel. Good facilities for a fairly small station with only four platforms. There's a taxi rank outside the station, and the bus station is a short walk away. Parking is up a set of steps back to platform level. I believe there is access from platform level if you need it, but you'll need to ask a member of staff. read more

Small little station with four platforms, they have a little book and snack store where you can get hot drinks. The seating area, is not very big and is somewhat exposed to the elements during winter. There are several self service ticketing machines and a taxi rank just outside the main exit and a bus stop. The main bus station is only 5mins walk away. The train service however is not great, being First Great Western, I have yet to catch a train here that has been on time. They are all delayed or even cancelled. This is hence the reason for giving it only 2 stars, doenst hel if you have an efficient station, but bad train service. First Great Western, are anything but great. read more

It is a small station but on the main line between Cardiff and London. There are a number of car parks either side of the station and a large taxi rank just out front. There is also a bus stop right outside, but the bus station is a very short walk from the train station. There isn't a large area for cars that are waiting to pick up and the area that is designated for it is just past the traffic lights. When you enter the station, there are departure/arrival screens, an ATM, bus route maps, train timetables, and the ticket office. The ticket office always has a queue and two staff members, one of which is dedicated to advance tickets. Sometimes they are friendly and helpful, other days... not so much. While there is a cafe and WHSmith beyond the barriers, there is a Costa Coffee to the side of the station before you enter. I don't remember seeing a waiting area, but there aren't that many platforms, but they are fairly exposed to the elements. I also haven't tried out the toilets... I try not to at many train stations. The only thing that I think the station could do better is having staff on hand to assist passengers when there are delays and cancellations... and I can say with a lot of certainty that it happens quite often. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to travel but services have been cancelled or when I do travel my train is delayed between 30 minutes to an hour. Only once have I arrived at my destination on time. While I understand that the staff at the station cannot do anything about the delays or cancellations, they could try to assist the customers that are waiting. Often everyone is wondering what is happening, if there are replacement services, etc. but there are only the two staff members in the ticket office. Not a bad station, just not very reliable train service. If you are looking to go nearby, take one of the buses. read more

I don't know how much you can possibly write about a railway station. Swindon is a fairly typical urban train station. There are draughty platforms and corridors. There is a booking office, (usually with queues). The staff however I have always found to be polite and helpful. There is a WH Smiths shops. Only small, but you can buy a paper or a magazine or a birthday card or bar of chocolate etc. There is a waiting room where you can sit to wait for your train. There are screens telling you what trains are due to arrive and depart and whether or not they are running on time. What more can I say?? read more

Swindon train station is fairly average. It is quite a big station, but not compared to Bristol, London, Reading etc. It has a small shop and a cafe. The service is good and the staff are really helpful. There is free parking for up to 20minutes which is good for anyone wanting to see someone off on a train. Or alternatively there are a few long stay car parks. It is close to the town centre, and is easily accessible by bus. There are always taxis outside the train station for anyone needing one. I quite often use this train station, and wouldn't change that! The train prices can be quite expensive, but thats due to the train operator rather than the station. read more

Swindon train station isn't the best that I've been to but it is a lot better than most. They have a new seating area inside which is quite comfortable and a nice place to wait for your train. There are two cafe's and a WH Smith. The cafe's are pretty average. The cakes are nice but the coffee is pretty awful and it's very expensive (but I think that's the same with all train station cafe's). The toilets always seem to be dirty whenever I need to use them. Overall it's a pretty average train station. Comfortable enough for waiting for your trains but not as good as the bigger train stations in London. The location is really good. It's right in the town centre and quite close to the bus station. Unfortunately there isn't much space for people to wait when they're picking you up but there is space for a couple of cars to wait. It tends to get quite crowded. There are always plenty of taxi's and as I said the bus station is close by so transport from the train station is easy. read more

Swindon station has some lovely trains and they are usually a pretty colour. The problem with Swindon station is that it is based in...errr...Swindon. The station does its best to improve things...it is near two of the town's biggests attractions...The Magic roundabout, where timid drivers have nervous breakdowns (much more entertaining than watching the football team), and the pound shop, where all manner of goodies can be bought for a pound. And of course, if you are at the station, there is a good chance you are leaving the town. Or if you have just arrived, you have that window of opportunity to change your mind and turn back. Quick. They do sell nice wispa bars at Smith's though. And the toilets smell good. If you like the smell of busy toilets. read more

Lol...Quite a ordinary station, and small, my thoughts on arriving there, now my local station

Definitely a 4 star for its safety awareness of its staff and reminder messages on the stairs. The staff are first class pleasant customer friendly and extreemly helpful to everyone. The food and drinks provides a very high quality of a vast selection. read more