Badminton railway line

The Badminton railway line is a railway line opened in 1903 by the Great Western Railway between the Great Western Main Line at Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire and Patchway and Filton, north of Bristol, England. Forming the eastern section of the South Wales Main Line, it shortened the distance between South Wales and London for heavy mineral traffic and for express passenger trains; it relieved congestion on the line through Bath.

It was engineered to high standards with gentle gradients and large radius curves, and was correspondingly expensive to construct. It is about 30 miles in length.

The line is part of the principal route between South Wales and London, and today carries a heavy main line passenger service. All intermediate stations were closed in the 1960s, but Bristol Parkway station was opened in 1971 and remains the only passenger station on the line. Electrification of the line has been completed.