What is Great Western main line?
[[File:Great Western Main Line Map de.png|thumb|300px|Map of the Great Western main line. Branch lines are not shown]] The '''Great Western main line''' is a main line [[railway]] in England, that runs westwards from [[Paddington railway station|London Paddington]] to {{stnlnk|Bristol Temple Meads}}. It opened in 1841 and was the original route of the old [[Great Western Railway]]. In 1948 it became the Western Region of [[British Railways]]. It is now part of the national rail system managed by [[Network Rail]]. ==Electrification== The line was [[Railway electrification system|electrified]] from [[Paddington station|Paddington]] to [[Heathrow Airport]] in the late 1990s. Work to electrify the rest of the route started in 2011. The aim was to complete the work all the way to Bristol by 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Modernising the Great Western|url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/uploadedFiles/networkrailcouk/Contents/Improvements/The_Great_Western/WesternVision.pdf|last=Network Rail|access-date=24 August 2016|date=June 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413065743/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/uploadedFiles/networkrailcouk/Contents/Improvements/The_Great_Western/WesternVision.pdf|archive-date=13 April 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Parts of the programme have been deferred because costs have tripled. The four sections deferred are: [[Didcot]] to [[Oxford]], [[Bristol Parkway railway station|Bristol Parkway]] to [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station|Bristol Temple Meads]], [[Royal Wootton Bassett]] Junction to Bristol Temple Meads and the Thames Valley branches to [[Henley-on-Thames]] and [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/21/cost-to-electrify-great-western-mainline-triples-to-28bn-risking-other-schemes|title=Cost of Great Western mainline electrification project triples to £2.8bn|first=Gwyn Topham Transport|last=correspondent|date=21 October 2015|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/i