Since 1906 part of this route has formed the direct Reading to Taunton Line used by trains to Devon and Cornwall.

In 1844, the GWR proposed a 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge branch line from Pangbourne railway station to Newbury while the LSWR was promoting an alternative 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge branch from Basingstoke to Newbury and Swindon, the heart of GWR territory.

c. xl), passed to allow the construction of the GWR-backed Berks and Hants Railway from Reading to both Basingstoke and Hungerford.

The capital for this company was put forward in the names of GWR directors, and the following year a new act of Parliament[which?]

On 27 June 1874, a special road coach service was instigated between Hungerford and Devizes while the engineers converted the single track on this section to standard gauge.