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= Edgewater Mainline =

The Edgewater mainline is a railway line in England, United Kingdom. It connects the cities of Seamouth, Edgewater and Lymbourne, and the towns of Fentham, Ladminster and Baychester to each other. Trains are operated by Coastlink and Great Edgewater Railway.

Construction
The first part of the Edgewater Mainline was built by the Edgewater & Northern Suburbs Railway in 1845. They planned to build the line from Edgewater Victoria to Seamouth, however, due to disputes over land ownership, the line was cut back to Edgewater Market Street in the South and Edgewater Opera (then called Edgewater Park Street). Passenger services commenced on the 23rd May 1846, running half hourly trains.

In 1852, after receiving planning permission from the Edgewater and Surroundings Council (E&SC), the line was constructed to Ladminster and to Edgewater Victoria. However, due to downturns in the local economy, the railway experienced consistent financial trouble through the 1860s and the E&NSR merged with the Edgewater & Lymbourne Railway in 1872.

Merger with the E&LR
In 1872, the Edgewater and Lymbourne Railway merged with the E&NSR to form the Great Edgewater Railway. New railway line was constructed between Edgewater Market Street and the E&LR terminus at Edgewater Victoria, which was completed by 1875. During this period, a tourism boom led to a massive increase in funding, and the line was constructed north to Seamouth Central, with a new terminus station built at Edgewater Central to serve express trains to Lymbourne..

Western Suburbs Branch Line
In 1892, a railway line was constructed to serve the city's western suburbs and the nearby villages of Tarbury and Maldon Close. The line branched of from the mainline after Hampton Row station, now Edgewater Parkway, and terminated at Tambury Town. The line opened to passengers in 1893, and ran fast and slow trains from Edgewater Central, with the difference being that fast trains ran on a separate line until Hurstbrook Junction, and therefore skipped Hampton Row, Edgewater Market Street and Mercer's Row.

Post Grouping
In 1922, the Railway was grouped into the Great Western Railway. During this era, ridership fell due to increased ticket prices, and to maintain profitability, many of the less profitable stations, such as Edgewater Market Street, were downsized and due to a lack of demand, the Western Suburbs Branch line was single tracked.

However, post 1925, demand for services to the seaside resorts of Lymbourne and Seamouth surged, leading to an increase in services, and a major expansion of Edgewater Central was completed in 1929. To accommodate more trains, new sidings were built at Baychester.

British Rail Era
In 1948, the line was acquired by British Rail. Under the modernisation plan, the line was dieselised in 1959, when it received new class 108 diesel multiple units for regional services to Baychester and for Edgewater Central to Lymbourne services, and all commuter routes and the Western Suburbs branch line received class 117 'suburban' units. In 1960, steam was removed from the line with new class 43 'warship' locomotives.

Under the Beeching Cuts, the Western Suburbs branch was closed in 1966, alongside Edgewater Market street and Lymbourne Junction Halt

The line was privatised in 1996, and handed to the new Edgewater Lines franchise, alongside the Edgewater airport line and other routes out of Edgewater Central operated by Edgewater Trains.

Operations
The line is currently operated by Coastlink (for commuter and regional services) and Great Edgewater Railway (for express services). Commuter services run every 15 minutes, and expresses run every hour

Rolling stock
Many train types operate on the mainline, on commuter, regional and express services.

Major incidents
* On the 23rd January 1869, an express train collided with a commuter service near Edgewater Market street. The trains were both travelling at about 60mph. Both trains jackknifed upon collision.57 people were killed and 102 injured

* On the 15th May 1922 an express train crashed into a

* On the 15th September 1965, a class 108 was derailed outside Baychester.

* On the 1st of March 1992, a class 165 collided with the buffer stops at Edgewater central