Dorchester West railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Dorchester in Dorset, England. The station is managed by Great Western Railway. The station is located on the Heart of Wessex Line between Castle Cary and Weymouth, 161.63 miles (260.12 kilometres) from the zero point at London Paddington (measured via Swindon and Westbury), and is at the southern end of a single track section from Maiden Newton. The line becomes double at the station and remains so to just before nearby Dorchester Junction, where the line joins the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth.

Dorchester West
General information
Location	Dorchester, Dorset England
Coordinates	50.711°N 2.443°W / 50.711; -2.443
Grid reference	SY688902
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	DCW
Classification	DfT category F1
History
Original company	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1857	Opened
Passengers
2016/17	0.165 million
2017/18	0.158 million
2018/19	0.151 million
Interchange	48
2019/20	93,662
Interchange	48
2020/21	22,134
Interchange	3
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 20 January 1857, when it completed the former Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth line from Castle Cary and Yeovil through to Weymouth.

In October 2021, a new ramp was opened allowing step-free access to platform 1.[1]

Stationmasters

Accidents and incidents

An accident occurred at this station in 1974 when an excursion train from Hereford to Weymouth, on its return journey, did not stop at the signal controlling the entry to the single line section, and ran into the sand drag. The locomotive (a Class 47) ran right through the sand drag and out the other side, followed by a couple of coaches. Eighteen passengers suffered minor injuries in the derailment, but no one was seriously hurt.[12] The passengers were taken home by train via Southampton later that evening, and the loco was subsequently re-railed and recovered during the night several weeks later.

Services

Great Western Railway operate services between Bristol Temple Meads and Weymouth (eight trains per day Mon-Sat, five on Sundays - some extended to/from Gloucester).[13] South Western Railway used to run additional services between Weymouth and Yeovil Junction on Summer Saturdays.[14]

More frequent services (usually every hour) are available to Weymouth from the nearby Dorchester South station.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Maiden Newton		Great Western Railway Heart of Wessex Line		Upwey

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dorchester West railway station.

• Ordnance Survey 1937 map of Dorchester showing the location of the two stations

Notes