Reading–Taunton line old Bristol and Exeter Railway. The Taunton and Bridgwater Canal runs alongside the railway. The line passes the site of Creech St Michael railway station and the junction of the former Chard Branch Line. Passenger services on the route are operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). These are principally Class 802s from London Paddington to Plymouth, or . There is also an overnight "Night Riviera" sleeper service. Some other services between these places are routed between Reading and Taunton along the Great Western Main Line to Bristol, and then on to the Bristol to Taunton Line, thereby missing this Reading
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad ran from Baltimore north into Pennsylvania first to York and then into the state capital at Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River. The PRR at the time had access to Baltimore via its own lines (the NCRY from the north and the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad from the northeast), and used the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) and its Washington Branch line to continue southwest to the national capital at Washington, D.C.. The PRR and B&O had trouble getting along, but Maryland refused to grant a charter to end the B&O's monopoly on Baltimore-Washington travel. However, the Baltimore and Potomac