Bournemouth railway station

Bournemouth railway station serves the seaside town of Bournemouth, in Dorset, England. It was known previously as Bournemouth East (1885 to 1899) and then Bournemouth Central (1899 to 1967). It is managed by South Western Railway, and it has long been treated as an obligatory principal stop on the South West Main Line between London Waterloo and Weymouth. The station also is served by CrossCountry services via Reading and Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly. It is 108 miles 2 chains (173.8 km) measured from London Waterloo and is situated between Pokesdown and Branksome. A previous incarnation of Bournemouth East station was on another site. Ticket barriers were installed in 2008 and British Transport Police have a Bournemouth office at the station which acts as a regional hub. History The station was designed by William Jacob, chief engineer of the London and South Western Railway, and opened on 20 July 1885 as Bournemouth East; it replaced the original station of the same name on the other side of Holdenhurst Road from 1870 to 1885. The station was sited over 0.62 mi (1 km) from the town centre, on the insistence of town authorities of the time. It was renamed Bournemouth Central on 1 May 1899 and became Bournemouth on 10 July 1967, following the closure of Bournemouth West. By 1967, third rail electrification had reached Bournemouth and continued beyond to Branksome and Bournemouth Train & Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot but no further. From the end of the steam era, most trains were formed of 4REP EMUs coupled up with one or more unpowered 4TC units. The 4TC units would be uncoupled at Bournemouth and attached to a Class 33/1 diesel locomotive for the onward journey to Weymouth. This continued until the electrification of the line from Branksome to Weymouth and the introduction of Class 442 units in 1988. The end of steam also saw the removal of the station's centre tracks which ran between the up and down lines serving platforms 2 and 3 respectively and the demolition of the locomotive sheds to the west; the station car park took over their site. The station roof was severely damaged by the Great Storm of 1987 that hit the South of England. It was extensively refurbished in 2000 by Railtrack after many years of disrepair and being surrounded by scaffolding to protect people from falling debris. Ticket barriers were installed in 2008. Bournemouth railway station was once served by services and goods deliveries across five railways, the South West Main Line, Southampton and Dorchester Railway, Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway, Salisbury and Dorset Junction Railway and Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. Motive power depot A small locomotive depot was opened at Bournemouth East in 1870, but closed in 1883. This was replaced by a larger shed, adjacent to Bournemouth Central station, in 1883. This, in turn, was supplemented by another shed nearby in 1888. In 1921, the 1883 shed was closed and the 1888 one was extended to increase capacity; between 1936 and 1938 this was rebuilt and enlarged. The new shed included a 65 ft (20 m) turntable and a 50 LT (51 t) hoist. However the facilities remained cramped and awkwardly sited; there were proposals to move the depot to Branksome which were never implemented. This site therefore remained in use until June 1967 when the site was cleared. Recent service history In May 1994, Network SouthEast extended its service London Victoria to Southampton Central service to terminate at Bournemouth. It was truncated back to Southampton Central in the 2000s by Southern. The service was one of the few regular services to use platform 1. Before the CrossCountry service was standardised in 2007, there were services to many other destinations than today; these included the Dorset Scot, Pines Express, Wessex Scot and other trains to Scotland via both the West Coast Main Line and East Coast Main Line, along with trains to Leeds and to Liverpool Lime Street. Accidents and incidents On 2 September 1961, a train hauled by SR West Country Class 4-6-2 No. 34045 Ottery St. Mary was derailed by trap points at the west end of the down platform. Layout The station has four platforms: Platform 1: east facing bay platform capable of accommodating trains of up to four 20-metre coaches. As of April 2024, trains to Winchester depart from this platform. Platform 2: for through services to the east towards Southampton and London Waterloo. Platform 3: for terminating services from London Waterloo and Manchester Piccadilly, and through services to Weymouth. Platform 4: rarely used by trains in passenger service. Platforms 3 and 4 are continuous and both can accommodate full-length trains. This means that Bournemouth has one of the longest platforms in the country; other stations with this arrangement include Gloucester, Cambridge, Bristol Temple Meads and Edinburgh Waverley. The station is fully accessible, with an underpass connecting platforms 2 and 3. Services Services at Bournemouth are operated by South Western Railway and CrossCountry. As of 2025, the typical off-peak service at the station is as follows: Monday to Saturday: 2 tph to London Waterloo (1 fast, 1 semi-fast) 2 tph to Weymouth 1 tph to Poole 1 tph to Winchester (stopping) 1 tph to Manchester Piccadilly via Reading and Birmingham New Street Sunday: 2 tph to London Waterloo (1 fast, 1 semi-fast) 1 tph to Weymouth (calling at all stations except Holton Heath) 1 tph to Poole (non-stop) 1 tph to Manchester Piccadilly via Reading and Birmingham New Street Additional peak-time services also operate, serving the intermediate stations between Bournemouth and Southampton Central, giving these stations 2 tph direct to (in the morning peak) and from (in the evening peak) London Waterloo. Due to infrastructure restrictions, services west of Poole cannot normally operate with more than 5 carriages. Therefore, SWR services from London split at Bournemouth with only 5 carriages continuing to Weymouth. Towards London, services attach to an additional 5 carriages before continuing as a 10 carriage service. Connections Bournemouth railway station also serves as a hub for local bus services. The down side of the station is Bournemouth Travel Interchange is served by Morebus, which operates frequent buses to the town centre, to Poole Bus Station and to Bournemouth Airport. It is also a stop on National Express coach routes which serve the town. Notes References