Finstock railway station serves the village of Finstock and the hamlet of Fawler in Oxfordshire, England. It is some distance from Finstock itself,[1] being situated to the north-east of Charlbury Road (the present B4022), which crosses the line on an overbridge.
Finstock  | |||||
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| General information | |||||
| Location | Finstock, West Oxfordshire England | ||||
| Coordinates | 51°51′11″N 1°28′08″W / 51.853°N 1.469°W | ||||
| Grid reference | SP366173 | ||||
| Managed by | Great Western Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | FIN | ||||
| Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Great Western Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | GWR | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 9 April 1934 | Opened as Finstock Halt | ||||
| 5 May 1969 | Renamed Finstock | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  1,542 | ||||
| 2020/21 | 102 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  364 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 706 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 1,112 | ||||
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The station and all trains serving it are operated by Great Western Railway. Finstock is the least used station in Oxfordshire according to the official passenger statistics.[2]
Finstock railway station featured in Geoff Marshall's YouTube series of Least Used Stations where his special guest was Ben Goldacre.[3]
History
editThe station was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 9 April 1934, originally being named "Finstock Halt"[4] and having two platforms.[5] Each platform was approached by an inclined path from Charlbury Road, and each had a corrugated iron shelter with windows only in the end walls.[6]
On 5 May 1969 it was renamed "Finstock".[4] The line was singled on 29 November 1971, the former up line now carrying traffic in both directions, and the redundant down platform was removed. By September 1980 the former GWR waiting shelter had been replaced by a simple shelter open on three sides. On 9 March 1987 the former up platform was taken out of use and replaced by one built over the site of the former down line.[7] Evidence of the former up platform and access ramp is now overgrown.[1]
Services
editSince at least February 1999 the station has been served by a minimal service of two trains per day, one in each direction.[8]
This service is currently formed of the 08:08 train to Didcot Parkway, via Oxford, and the 17:41 train to Moreton-in-Marsh which operate Monday-Friday only. There are currently no weekend services at the station with a normal service running on most Bank Holidays.
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Western Railway Cotswold Line Monday-Friday Only | ||||
References
edit- ^ a b Stretton, John (2006). Oxfordshire; A Second Selection. British Railways Past and Present. Vol. 55. Kettering: Past & Present Publishing Ltd. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-85895-203-1.
- ^ Marshall, Geoff. "Least Used Stations". Geofftech.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019.
- ^ Finstock - Least Used Station in Oxfordshire, 30 March 2018, retrieved 27 February 2022
- ^ a b Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 97. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ^ Robertson, Kevin (1990). Great Western Railway Halts. Vol. 1. Pinner: Irwell Press. ISBN 1-871608-17-1.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2003, figs. 48–51
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2003, Historical background; figs. 52–53
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2003, fig. 53
- Mitchell, Victor E.; Smith, Keith (27 September 2003). Oxford to Moreton-in-Marsh. Western Main Lines. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-904474-15-2.
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