Southcote Junction is a

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. The physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge) is provided by turnouts (US: switc ...

in the English town of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. It is the point where the

Reading to Basingstoke line Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word re ...

diverges from the

Reading to Taunton line Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word r ...

, and is situated between the Reading suburbs of Southcote and

Coley Park Coley Park is a Suburban village to the south of the town of Reading, Berkshire, Reading in the England, English county of Berkshire. It is largely built on the country estate of the same name, surrounding Coley House. It is primarily a resident ...

and some to the south of

Reading West station Reading West railway station serves West Reading, Berkshire, about west from the town's main retail and commercial areas. The station is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western Railwa ...

. A second adjacent junction, the Coley Branch Junction, formerly existed a few metres to the north where the

Coley branch line The Coley branch line (Engineers line reference, ELR:COY), also known as the Coley goods branch, was a single-track branch railway running to Reading Central goods depot, from the Reading to Basingstoke line near Southcote Junction. History Th ...

diverged. The railway line from Reading to Hungerford (which would eventually become the Taunton line) opened on 21 December 1847, whilst the Basingstoke line opened on 1 November 1848. Both lines were proposed as part of the

Berks and Hants Railway The Berks and Hants Railway comprised two railway lines built simultaneously by the Great Western Railway (GWR) south and west from in an attempt to keep the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) out of the area that it considered to be its ...

, but that company became part of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

before the track was laid. From 1908 until 1983, the Coley branch line diverged at Coley Branch Junction. Until 26 April 1965, the junction was controlled by Southcote Junction Signal Box, situated to the east of the line just north of the junction. A new signal box was opened here in 1896, to replace an earlier box, and it was upgraded in 1908 to cater for the new Coley branch. After closure the box was demolished, and control transferred to Reading Signal Box. There was a refuge siding adjacent to the junction, parallel to the up line; this was taken out of use in 1963. Before closure in 1965, Southcote Junction signal box had 25 levers. The junction is readily visible from a footpath linking Wensley Road in Coley Park to Southcote Farm Lane in Southcote. This first crosses the trackbed of the old Coley branch, before running alongside the railway and then passing under both lines at the junction. Southcote Junction and the line between it and the junctions with the

Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs between London Paddington and . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of t ...

are heavily trafficked with a mixture of local passenger, long distance passenger and freight trains on both lines. In 2015, Network Rail’s Western Route Study suggested the provision of a grade separated junction at Southcote, with a third track to be provided between there and the Oxford Road Junction at Reading West. The

overhead electrification An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union of Railways for the tech ...

of the Reading to Taunton line as far as was completed by February 2019, but Southcote Junction is currently the limit of electrification on the line to Basingstoke, so all trains on that line are diesel powered.

References

{{reflist, 30em Rail junctions in England Rail transport in Berkshire Transport in Reading, Berkshire