The Reading to Taunton line is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line from which it diverges at Reading railway station, running to Cogload Junction near Taunton, where it joins the Bristol to Exeter line. It was one of the principal routes of the pre-1948 Great Western Railway which were subsequently taken over by the Western Region of British Railways and are now part of the Network Rail system. Between Reading and Westbury, the line is officially known as the Berks and Hants Line.