Editing Great Western Main Line (section)

===Construction===
The construction of what would become the GWML was motivated by several factors, one of the more influential being the sizeable merchant community of Bristol, which keenly advocated for such a railway to be built to help maintain the city's position as the second port of the country as well as the chief one for American trade.<ref>{{Cite book |last = Channon |first = Geoffrey |url = https://archive.org/details/bha062 |title = Bristol and the Promotion of the Great Western Railway, 1835 |isbn = 0-901388-45-9 |publisher = Bristol Historical Association |year = 1985 |location = Bristol, UK |publication-date = 1985 |language = en-GB}}</ref> More specifically, fearing rising competition from [[Liverpool]] and railway developments to its favour, the sought railway was to be preferably built to superior standards as to out-perform any of the lines serving the [[North West England|North West of England]].<ref name="MacD1-1">{{harvnb|MacDermot|1927|loc=chapter 1}}</ref> Thus, the line built by the [[Great Western Railway]] and engineered by [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] was originally a dual track line using a wider {{track gauge|84in|lk=on}} [[broad gauge]].<ref>{{cite journal |last = Clark |first = GT |author-link = G. T. Clark |title = The Birth and Growth of the Broad Gauge |journal = Gentleman's Magazine |issue = 279 |pages = 489–506 |year = 1895}}</ref> The line's construction costs were considerably higher due to the use of this broad gauge.<ref name = "first hsr2019"/>

The route of the GWML includes dozens of [[listed building]]s and structures, including tunnel portals, bridges and viaducts, stations, and associated hotels.{{sfn|Sanderson | Pollard | Thorne | Hradsky |2012}} Part of the route passes through and contributes to the [[Georgian Architecture]] of the [[City of Bath]] World Heritage Site; the path through [[Sydney Gardens]] has been described as a "piece of deliberate railway theatre by Brunel without parallel".{{sfn|Sanderson | Pollard | Thorne | Hradsky |2012|loc = MLN1 10605, MLN1 10605, MLN1 10605, MLN1 10610, MLN1 10614, MLN1 10618}} [[Grade I]] listed structures on the line include [[London Paddington]], [[Wharncliffe Viaduct]], the 1839 Tudor gothic [[Avon Bridge|River Avon Bridge]] in Bristol, and [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station|Bristol Temple Meads station]].{{sfn|Sanderson | Pollard | Thorne | Hradsky |2012| loc = MLN1 0000 , MLN1 0742, MLN1 11725, MLN1 11826 }}<ref name = "first hsr2019"/>

The line was opened in stages between 1838 and 1841.<ref>{{harvnb|MacDermot|1927|pp=130–131}}</ref> The first section, between Paddington and [[Taplow railway station|Maidenhead Bridge]] opened on 4 June 1838; the final section, between Chippenham and Bath, was opened on completion of the [[Box Tunnel]], the longest railway tunnel driven by that time, in June 1841.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol4/pp280-293 |title = Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 4: Railways |year = 1959 |editor-last = Crittall |editor-first = Elizabeth |website = british-history.ac.uk |publisher = University of London |access-date = 27 December 2017 |archive-date = 16 July 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210716084149/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol4/pp280-293 |url-status = live |language = en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Swift |first = Andrew |title = The Ringing Grooves of Change |year = 2006 |publisher = Akeman Press |isbn = 0-9546138-5-6 |pages = 215–249 }}</ref> The line's alignment was so level and straight it was nicknamed "Brunel's billiard table".<ref name = "first hsr2019">{{cite magazine |title = The Great Western: the world's first high speed railway |first = Gareth |last = Dennis |magazine = Rail |issue = 873 |date = 27 February 2019}}</ref>