Ascot
Location
Place	Ascot
Local authority	Windsor and Maidenhead
Operations
Station code	ACT
Managed by	South West Trains
Platforms in use	3
Live departures and station information from National Rail
Annual Rail Passenger Usage
2002/03 *	0.858 million
2004/05 *	0.940 million
2005/06 *	0.789 million
History
Key dates	Opened 1856
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Ascot from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

Ascot railway station is a railway station in the town of Ascot in Berkshire, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South West Trains. It is situated at the junction of the line from Waterloo to Reading with the Ascot to Guildford line.

The station has three tracks and four platform faces. The London-bound track is a single track with platform faces on either side, both of which are called Platform 1. Until recently, both faces could be used to board London-bound trains, but now only the doors on the ticket office side of the train open. Platform 2 serves the Reading-bound line, and Platform 3 serves the Guildford line for trains starting and terminating their journeys at Ascot. Where trains are running from London to through to Guildford, or vice versa, they use Platform 2. It should be noted that all lines are bi-directional.

History

The station was opened when the Staines, Wokingham and Woking Junction Railway reached here on 4 June 1856; on 9 July the line was extended to Wokingham. On 18 March Ascot became a junction when the line towards Ash Vale was opened.

In the days when race traffic for the nearby Ascot Racecourse warranted it, there was a separate racecourse station situated nearby. There were also four signal boxes.

A fire in 1983 severely damaged the station buildings.

Services

Ascot is served by trains between London Waterloo and Reading every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday, and every 60 minutes on Sundays. Trains to Guildford via Aldershot operate at the same frequency. Most of these trains start or terminate at Ascot, but there are through trains from London Waterloo to Aldershot during Monday to Friday peak periods.

During Royal Ascot week, train services from London Waterloo to Reading through Ascot are significantly increased, with trains running every 15 mins in either direction. Even with this increase in service the trains are still crowded.