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New Taunton station café provides taste of the 1930s and Great Western Railway’s rich history

Visitors to Taunton station will be transported back in time with the opening of a Centenary Lounge celebrating the history of the Great Western Railway, Art Deco and the 1930s.

Located on Platform 2 and inspired by the station’s rich heritage, the café includes light fittings, flooring, wood panelling and glass mirrors reflective of a golden age of steam travel.

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It was officially opened yesterday with a celebration featuring a live 1930s-style band, speeches, canapés and other refreshments for guests and customers.

Centenary Lounge was launched at Birmingham Moor Street station in 2009, with another café opening in Worcester in 2019 and at Leamington Spa station in 2023.

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Founder Aasia Baig said she was delighted to be extending the Centenary Lounge story to Taunton:

“I wanted to come up with a design appropriate for the heyday of rail travel in the 1930s and took inspiration from the original interiors of our refreshment room in Leamington Spa station, as Taunton and Leamington Spa boast similar architectural aesthetics.

“Taunton station has undergone some major improvements over the past five years and our café is in a fantastic location, overlooking the plaza and square with views across to the Great Western Hotel.

“We want to become a destination not only for customers passing through the station, but for the local community who have fallen back in love with their station.”

Over the past five years, a multi-million-pound regeneration of the station has delivered a new ticket office, station entrance and forecourt, multi-storey car park and an improved bus and taxi interchange.

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Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Chair of the GWR Advisory Board, said: 

“Railways are all about connecting people, whether that is for work, for education or for leisure. They bring people together and station waiting rooms and refreshment rooms are part of that heritage. I’m delighted that Taunton station will now have such a special place for people to meet and start or finish their journeys. 

“It is a very important station, that has seen significant investment and improvement in services and it’s wonderful that Taunton is joining the GWR Centenary Lounge family.”

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GWR Business Assurance and Strategy Director, Joe Graham, added:

“We’re delighted to welcome Centenary Lounge to Taunton and are thrilled they’ve been able to recreate so many of the station’s original features in this stunning new café.

“We’re incredibly proud of Great Western Railway’s rich history and this café provides some wonderful examples of the quality and heritage which are so symbolic of the railway. The project demonstrates that we are committed to our customers and care about the communities we serve.”

Contact Information

John Carter

Media and Communications Manager

Great Western Railway

0845 410 4444

John.Carter1@gwr.com

Notes to editors

Pictures, from top, Celebrating the grand opening; The Hipcats perform outside the café; Centenary Lounge founder Aasia Baig welcomes visitors; Lord Faulkner of Worcester and Aasia cut a ribbon to mark its opening; tucking into food

About Centenary Lounge

Aasia Baig began her journey in the railways in 2001, when she and her husband opened their first retail store in Solihull Station.

When she visited Birmingham Moor Street Station looking for an empty unit to open a quality café, she fell in love with its charm. This encouraged her to learn about the history of the railways, and the idea of recreating a 1930s Great Western Railway-inspired refreshment room was born.

The first café opened at Birmingham Moor Street station in 2009, on the centennial anniversary of the station’s opening by the GWR, hence the name ‘Centenary Lounge’.

Centenary Lounge Worcester opened in early 2019. The ground floor continues the 1930s Art Deco theme, while the upper floor takes inspiration from the building’s original features with a stylish Georgian-style tearoom.

The Centenary Lounge at Leamington Spa Station is located on Platform 2, serving the Express Menu with a selection of organic and barista style coffees, speciality taste award winning teas and a selection of wines, spirits and beers.

About Taunton station

Taunton station opened on 1 July, 1842, as part of the Bristol and Exeter Railway. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it was originally single-sided with two platforms, each with their own buildings and train sheds.

During the next 30 years a series of branches opened to provide more connections to Taunton, but the station was unable to cope with the extra trains and a major rebuild got under way, which was completed on 17 August 1868.

The platforms were further extended in 1895, making them the longest platforms on the Great Western Railway.

In the 1930s the lines through Taunton were widened from two to four tracks, which forced another rebuilding of the station.

Today the original ‘down station’ building survives, along with the hotel and the extensions added in 1868. The ticket office was moved back to the south side of the station in 2021 to improve customer facilities and provide easier links to the town centre.

About Great Western Railway

First Greater Western Limited, trading as “Great Western Railway” (GWR), operates trains across the Great Western franchise area, which includes South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, across southern England and into London. GWR provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services and helps more than 80 million passengers reach their destination every year. GWR has been awarded a National Rail Contract to operate the Great Western network: https://www.gwr.com/about-us