Culham railway station serves the village of

Culham Culham is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in a bend of the River Thames, south of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon in Oxfordshire. The parish includes Culham Science Centre and Europa School UK (formerly the European Sch ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. It is on the Cherwell Valley Line between and , from . It is served by local train services provided by

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, ...

. The station is just off the

A415 road The A415 is a British A road (UK), A road which runs from the A4074 road, A4074 at Berinsfield, Oxfordshire to Witney passing through Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Marcham and Kingston Bagpuize. It crosses the River Thames twice, at Abingdo ...

, between the villages of Culham and

Clifton Hampden Clifton Hampden is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over east of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Since 1932 the civil parish has included the village of Burcot, east of Clifton Hampden. The 2011 Census record ...

. It is close to

Culham Science Centre The Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) is the UK's national laboratory for fusion research. It is located at the Culham Science Centre, near Culham, Oxfordshire, and is the site of the Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) and the now closed Jo ...

, an scientific research site housing two

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the rele ...

experiments: JET and

MAST Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

. The Science Centre was built on the site of

RNAS Culham (HMS Hornbill) Royal Naval Air Station Culham (RNAS Culham, also known as HMS ''Hornbill'') was a former Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm station near Culham, Oxfordshire. It opened in 1944 as an All-Weather Airfield for the Royal Navy. The airbase was used by ...

, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

airfield.

History

The

opened the station on the – line as Abingdon Road on 12 June 1844. Its name was changed by the GWR to Culham, on 2 June 1856, on the opening of the branch from to Abingdon. The original station building (no longer in railway use) is in the

Tudor Revival architecture Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engi ...

and is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The name ''Abingdon Road'' was later re-used for an entirely different station about to the north, , opened in 1908. In some recent years passenger numbers using Culham have changed rapidly. The total increased 67% in the three years 2006–09, but then decreased slightly in 2010.

Services

All services at Culham are operated by

. The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between and , with alternate trains continuing beyond Oxford to and from every two hours. Additional services call at the station during the peak hours. No services call at the station on Sundays.

References

External links

* Railway stations in Oxfordshire DfT Category F1 stations Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1844 Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Grade II* listed buildings in Oxfordshire Grade II* listed railway stations Isambard Kingdom Brunel railway stations {{SouthEastEngland-railstation-stub