West Somerset Railway

West Somerset Railway
6024 King Edward I climbing towards Keniton
Locale	Somerset
Terminus	Minehead Bishops Lydeard
Commercial operations
Built by	West Somerset Railway Minehead Railway
Original gauge	7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)
Preserved operations
Operated by	West Somerset Railway plc
Stations	11
Length	22.75 miles (36.61 km)
Preserved gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Commercial history
Opened	1862
1862	Opened Taunton to Watchet
1874	Opened Watchet to Minehead
1882	Converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Closed	1973
Preservation history
1975	Light Railway Order granted
1976	Reopened Minehead to Williton
1978	Reopened Williton to Stogumber
1979	Reopened Stogumber to Bishops Lydeard
1987	New station at Doniford
2009	New station at Norton Fitzwarren
Headquarters	Minehead

The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a 22.75-mile (36.6 km) heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset Council. The railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc), which is supported and minority-owned by the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA) charitable trust and the West Somerset Railway Heritage Trust (WSRHT). WSR operates services using both heritage steam and diesel trains.

It originally opened in 1862 between Taunton and Watchet. In 1874 it was extended from Watchet to Minehead by the Minehead Railway. Although just a single line, improvements were needed in the first half of the twentieth century to accommodate the significant number of tourists that wished to travel to the Somerset coast. The line was closed by British Rail in 1971 and reopened in 1976 as a heritage line.

It is the longest standard gauge independent heritage railway in the United Kingdom.^[1] Services normally operate over just the 20.5 miles (33.0 km) between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard. During special events some trains continue a further two miles (3.2 km) to Norton Fitzwarren where a connection to Network Rail allows occasional through trains to operate onto the national network.