Golden Valley Line
| Golden Valley Line |
| Principal stations (Great Western Main Line) |
The Golden Valley Line is a railway line from Swindon to Standish Junction, which is just south of Gloucester. Most passenger services continue beyond Gloucester to Cheltenham Spa.
The line diverges from the Great Western Main Line at Swindon, and joins the main Bristol to Birmingham main line at Gloucester. The intermediate towns served by the route are listed below.
- Swindon
- Kemble
- Stroud
- Stonehouse
- Gloucester (reverse)
- Cheltenham Spa
Kemble used to a be a former junction for two branch lines serving Cirencester and Tetbury. Both of these lines closed in the 1960s and the Swindon-Kemble section of the line was reduced to single track. Today, Kemble station is mainly used by commuters from Cirencester.
Local passenger services operated between Swindon and Cheltenham are currently operated by Wessex Trains. Services are approximately hourly, but with some gaps. These are filled by express services from London Paddington to Cheltenham (via the Golden Valley), which are operated by First Great Western.