Right Royal celebration as Great Western Railway marks 175th anniversary of Windsor & Eton Central station
Queen Victoria welcomed guests to Windsor & Eton Central today as Great Western Railway marked 175 years since winning the race to open the Royal town’s first railway station.
Her Majesty was joined by Prince Albert and a couple of other Victorian gentry (all lookalikes of course!) as guests including the Mayor of Slough and the Mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead were treated to a right Royal celebration.
During the 1840s, GWR was locked in a battle with the rival London & South Western Railway to win the Queen’s patronage for opening the first station in Windsor. GWR opened the line from Slough to Windsor & Eton Central station, then named simply Windsor, on 8 October, 1849.
Following issues with a bridge at nearby Datchet, London & South Western Railway’s Windsor & Riverside station finally opened on 1 December, 1849.
GWR Sales & Marketing Director, Amanda Burns, said:
“Windsor & Eton Central is one of the most iconic stations on our network and we’re incredibly proud of its rich history.
“As with so much of the Great Western, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to those who have provided us with such a rich heritage: from Isambard Kingdom Brunel who planned the route, to all who have updated, transformed and maintained the branch line since.
“It’s been wonderful to reflect on 175 glorious years of history and the part Great Western Railway played in transforming this town with a station befitting of its Royal status.”
Windsor and Maidenhead Mayor, Cllr Simon Bond, said:
“Having been a regular commuter from Maidenhead to Windsor, I know the route extremely well and understand its importance. It's also great because it offers the best view of the castle when you arrive into town.”
Slough Mayor, Cllr Balwinder Dhillon, said:
"Windsor and Eton branch line is a vital connection between the two towns and is in constant use by Slough commuters. This branch line has connected Windsor with the wider railway network and is still as important today as it was 175 years ago.”
Visit Windsor Visitor Manager, Julia White, said:
“Windsor plays a huge role for the visitor economy, both domestic and internationally, with some of the UK's most iconic attractions, including Windsor Castle, Windsor Great Park and LEGOLAND Windsor Resort, and sits on the Great West Way touring route between London and Bristol.
“Latest figures from Visit Windsor demonstrate the value of tourism to the area, with over 12 million visits spending £485m in the tourism economy.”
Contact Information
John Carter
Media and Communications Manager
Great Western Railway
0845 410 4444
Notes to editors
Slough was initially considered the Royal station for Windsor, with Queen Victoria becoming the first monarch to travel by train when she journeyed from Slough to London Paddington on 13 June, 1842.
But GWR and LSWR wanted to bring the railway even closer to the Queen and embarked on a race to court Royal patronage.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert gave consent for both stations and a Town Improvements Bill was proposed to help clear Windsor’s slums and spark urban renewal.
To help, GWR paid £25,000 for passing through the Crown Estate, while LSWR paid £60,000 as its line passed through both the Estate and Home Park. That’s a combined £8.7m in today’s prices.
The Great Western’s project was not without problem. Eton College had opposed the first scheme to bring a railway to Windsor for fear “London would pour forth the most abandoned of its inhabitants to come down by the railway and pollute the minds of the scholars”, or indeed the boys would take illicit daytrips to London. Landowners were concerned it would pollute the watercourses, or that trains might leap off the viaduct.
Other objections were that passengers would be asphyxiated by the speed of trains, and cattle driven mad by the sound as they passed. Whilst there are no recorded incidents of passenger asphyxiation due to excess speed, nor subsequent mental health issues of livestock, both the original wooden viaduct and replacement brick structure on which the line runs to avoid the floodplain is said to be sufficiently high to enable Eton schoolboys wearing top hats to pass beneath without hindrance.
The railway today runs much of the way from Slough to Windsor on approximately 150 brick railway arches; the original timber viaduct structure being replaced soon after opening. The route crosses the Thames at its narrowest point upon a notable bridge: and the remaining superstructure of Brunel’s bowstring bridge is the oldest wrought iron railway bridge still in use today. Its design effectively served as a forerunner to the GWR’s esteemed Royal Albert Bridge which crosses the Tamar between Devon and Cornwall.
Following its grand opening on 8 October, 1849, the first train departed Windsor & Eton Central at around 0800, with 10 services following throughout the day. The station at the time was a simple timber structure, similar in design to many attributed to Brunel across the GWR, but with a few wooden decorative embellishments.
The station was rebuilt in time for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, which led to the large brick station buildings on the north side for the public (now the tourism office and cafes) and effectively a second station – a Royal station – adjoining it to the south. The buildings fit for a Queen comprise a Royal waiting room building (last used by a monarch in 1936, and now a bar) and the vast glass and metal roof over it and the yard – so that the mounted guards of the Royal escort could be sheltered too. The entrance road to the whole complex is arched over by The Dutch gable entrance, the glass roof beyond said to be based on the design of Paddington.
Windsor & Eton Central has featured in several films, most famously the 1970 classic Carry On Loving, assuming the name Much Snogging on-the-Green.