with greater financial resources, was needed. The Midland Railway was considered, but meaningful negotiation started with the neighbouring Great Western Railway. The talks were quickly finalised, and a lease to the GWR from 1 January 1876 was ratified by special shareholders' meetings. The GWR was to pay 6% on ordinary share capital. Actual amalgamation took place on 1 August 1876. The South Devon Railway amalgamated with the GWR on 1 February 1876, and the GWR now owned the line throughout from London to Plymouth. Under GWR ownership, the train service pattern continued with some variations. However, towards the end of the nineteenth century it became increasingly clear that the route form London to Exeter via Bristol was inconvenient, and steps were taken to provide a shorter route. This was built in stages, but on 20 May 1906 the new route was opened, running via Newbury and Castle Cary, joining the old B&ER line at Cogload Junction, east of Taunton. The original route section between Bristol and Cogload Junction was diminished in importance as most through trains were diverted to the new route, which was shorter. The 1906 junction at Cogload was conventional, but increasing traffic led to delays. Under the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929, the GWR received Government financial assistance to carry out improvement works, and the opportunity was taken to provide a grade-separated junction at Cogload; the Down Bristol line was carried over the Castle Cary lines on a truss bridge. Other improvements to stations and layout enhancements were carried out between Taunton and Exeter, including quadrupling of the line between Taunton and Norton Fitzwarren and considerable enlargement of both stations, and provision of goods bypass lines and an enlarged engine shed at Taunton. These improvements were commissioned progressively between 1931 and 1933. Train services The ordinary trains of the Bristol and Exeter line were not especially remarkable; attention is given to the through trains between London and Exeter, over the GWR and the B&E, and of course via Bristol. Despite the claimed superiority of the broad gauge, train speeds were not much better than on the standard gauge. Lord Dalhousie was charged by Parliament to form a committee to comment on the gauge question, and the committee's report in January 1845 stated, "The actual speed of trains on the Great Western Railway, [implying broad gauge lines in general] as shown by the published time-tables and