Trains at: Didcot Parkway, GWML, 12/08/23

A short but sweet visit to Didcot Parkway on the Great Western Mainline where we see plenty of services from Great Western Railway, Cross Country and freight from Freightliner.
Didcot Parkway was built and opened by the Great Western Railway in 1844. When First built the station was simpky known as Didcot. It wasn't until 1985 when British Rail renamed the station due to the then new bus link that was brought in. Thus making it a parkway station.
The town of Didcot owes is growth and success to the coming of the railway, as the same year as the station being opened the line towards Oxford was also opened. This allowed greater ease of access for passengers and freight alike which meant the local economy was able to grow which meant more people could move out of the louder areas of the country and move to a relatively small community. But this eventually became a sprawling town with markets a plenty and houses popping up all over the place.
There was another line that lived here before it closed. This was the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway. This line saw a connection from the Great Western Mainline down to Southampton via Newbury, Highclere, Winchester and Eastleigh. This line though finally saw the end of its life in 1962 just before the infamous Dr Beeching report saw the closure of hundreds of rural lines across the UK. Many of which are actually in the process of being brought back into working life.
There used to a regular commuter service running to Swindon from Didcot Parkway that would call at Steventon, Wantage Road, Challow, Uffington, Shrivenham and Stratton Park. This was run up until 1964 when the service was terminated. Which then resulted in the closure of those stations.
1985 saw the current station building opened along with a 600 space car park to make the station more accessible, it would also serve as an entrance for the Park and Ride buses to pull into which would also aim to take traffic off the city Centre roads. This has still worked to this day and is very successful, however A new multi story car park is currently being built to the West of the station.
You can find me on Facebook through the group Tornado922, there you will find regular updates, videos and photos from all of my goings on 2023.
You can also find me on Instagram through the name tornado922 where it isn't just rail related content that I produce.
You can now find me on TikTok through the name Tornado_922

[@matzk0840]

lovely station and video, ty :-)

[@Tornado922]

thank you kindly

[@chriswhitaker4577]

Hi Tornado922. Great film at Didcot Parkway. Extra information for you: at 12:34, it was 800031 and 800030 working the GWR service from Carmarthen. Looking forward to watching the next film at Bristol Temple Meads. Kind regards, Chris.

[@Tornado922]

Thank you kindly once again!

[@chloejadeallen]

Really great video. I’m becoming your biggest fan at the moment. Your content is soooo good! Keep it up 👏🏼

[@Tornado922]

That's very kind of you!

[@robertstrainsnsw1596]

Great film at Didcot Parkway

[@Tornado922]

Thank you kindly

[@ALTrainSpots]

Great video mate as per usual ❤

[@Tornado922]

Thanks very much!

[@Owenjedi5000]

I've been to Didcot Railway Centre in summer 2022 and saw the old railway station signs from the past

[@Tornado922]

it's a great place to visit

[@Senselessdust]

great video jarred! what baffles me is how quick the IET's accelerate out of here

[@Tornado922]

Thanks very much, the acceleration is incredible on those units!

[@Desiro360]

Excellent video. Good action at Didcot. 😀

[@Tornado922]

Thanks very much

[@TheTrainSpotter2005]

Quite a good station sure it gets quite repetitive from time to time but it is something to enjoy nonetheless. Of course, the nearby Didcot railway centre is quite a cool place to go as well. (If you like your steam) For me whenever I go to Didcot Parkway, the line through Newbury (the main route down to Plymouth) is closed then you'd get quite an influx of services with the addition of Plymouth and Penzance services combined with everything else normally. Still though Didcot is a good place

[@Tornado922]

I think the station could do with some variation every now and then

[@Josh-hm1yf]

Nice filming here at Didcot

[@Tornado922]

Thank you

[@theimperialist2686]

Nice railway video

[@Tornado922]

Thanks very much

[@cannedham8630]

I'm sure Didcot used to have a lot more non stopping trains going through? Seems like a major stop now on the gwml. Since the electrification and remodeling of Reading.

[@Tornado922]

There does appear to be an increase in the amount of trains now stopping here for sure

[@jordanbarker5521]

Will you be doing a trains at Reading at some point

[@Tornado922]

It is on my to do list

[@eastlondontransport6468]

Great video mate! Shame there wasn’t that much freight bypassing Didcot parkway but it was better than nothing also at 14:30 I didn’t see the point that freight train running if it was only carrying one container just seems pointless

[@Tornado922]

Thanks very much, it would have been nice to have caught some more freight but you can't always win, I think this station is better for filming on a weekday as you do get more freight coming through

[@matthewwingrove6264]

Hi tornado 922 have you seen the livery for the Avanti west coast class 805s

[@Tornado922]

I haven't seen it myself as of yet

[@matthewwingrove6264]

@@Tornado922 okay then well hopefully next year when you're on the WCML you'll be able to see it

[@TFGtransport]

When your trainspotting and use realtimetrains do use mobile data or does the station have free Internet

[@Tornado922]

I mostly use mobile data, some stations to have wifi access though

[@Sophiebryson510]

Where’s the park but?

[@Tornado922]

Do you mean the parkway? It's a term given to a railway station that also incorporates a bus station as it's a large hub

[@Sophiebryson510]

@@Tornado922 yes I did, thanks.

[@HornbySaturday]

66/6 be like