Sunnymeads Station is the least used station in Berkshire according to the latest release of the Office of Rail and Road estimates of station usage 2023 to 2024.
The station saw 24,560 passenger entries or exits which also means it ranks 2,199th across the UK. It’s not far from home so I thought I’d go and add 1 to the statistics for 2024-2025 😀
It’s no surprise that this isn’t a busy station. Located between Datchet and Wraysbury on the line from Staines to Windsor & Eton Riverside it sits in a private residential estate and lacks a car park for commuters. There’s a ticket machine but not a ticket office. No ticket gates, no loos, no waiting room. There’s somewhere to park your bike though and (apparently) Wi-Fi. It’s very much not step free since access to the island platform is via a footbridge. There is a Customer Help Point and electronic displays showing the times.of the next departures. Two trains per hour are provided by South Western Railway in each direction, to London Waterloo, (via Richmond) and to Windsor & Eton Riverside.
It’s quiet here, at least if you can ignore the jets taking off from nearby Heathrow Airport. It was a midweek lunchtime when I visited and I saw two passengers get on the train towards London and one who got on the same train to Windsor that I caught. There really isn’t a lot to do while waiting for a train. The best view of the station is from the Welley Road over bridge on the up side of Sunnnymeads, accessed via a footpath and a few steps alongside the line.
Back on the platform waiting for the next train to Windsor I was glad that it was actually sunny at Sunnymeads unlike when Geoff Marshall made his video.
While waiting I was able to speculate about the mystery object in the field next to Platform 1. A submarine? A space capsule? Or just an old septic tank 😀
Right on time my 1249 train to Windsor & Eton Riverside arrived and it was 71017, one of SWR’s recently introduced Arterio trains, so a first for me visiting Sunnymeads and a first ride on an Arterio. These 10 coach units certainly don’t fit on Sunnymeads’ platforms so it you’re planning on coming make sure you are in the front 7 coaches. I took a ride to Windsor & Eton Riverside - I think that might be a first too - and had a mooch around Windsor in the sunshine.
I walked to the station from Datchet village but if you’re coming by train to Sunnymeads it’s around three quarters of an hour from waterloo or six minutes from Windsor & Eton Riverside.
With little else to do I took a few photos which are in this Flickr Album
Come to Sunnymeads and see if we can lift it off the bottom rung of Berkshire’s stations next year 😉
