Southampton Central railway station
Southampton Central South Western Railway | |
---|---|
Platforms | 5 (4 in passenger use) |
Other information | |
Station code | SOU |
Classification | DfT category B |
History | |
Original company | London and South Western Railway |
Pre-grouping | London and South Western Railway |
Post-grouping | Southern Railway |
Key dates | |
1 November 1895 | Opened as Southampton West |
1934–1935 | Enlarged |
7 July 1935 | Renamed Southampton Central |
10 July 1967 | Renamed Southampton |
29 May 1994[1] | Renamed Southampton Central |
Passengers | |
2018/19 | 6.665 million |
Interchange | 1.619 million |
2019/20 | 6.352 million |
Interchange | 1.481 million |
2020/21 | 1.448 million |
Interchange | 0.273 million |
2021/22 | 4.294 million |
Interchange | 0.875 million |
2022/23 | 5.496 million |
Interchange | 1.208 million |
Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Railway lines in and around Southampton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Southampton Central railway station (originally Southampton West and later known simply as Southampton) is a main line
The station is managed by
History
Southampton Central station was opened as Southampton West in 1895, to replace the smaller nearby West End station (originally named Blechynden when it opened in 1847).[3] The station was on the seafront, specifically the stretch of water known as West Bay, with the water reaching right up to the southern edge of the platforms at high tide. A series of land reclamation projects to expand the docks, largely funded by the London and South Western Railway, culminated in the building of the vast "New Docks" (now Western Docks) between 1927 and 1934, which led to all of West Bay being reclaimed and the station becoming landlocked. The new land and the demand for new lines allowed the station to be enlarged and redeveloped in 1934–1935 (from two platforms to four), and it became 'Southampton Central'.[4] The new station buildings were largely constructed from concrete in the art deco style.[5]
An air raid on 23 November 1940, damaged the buildings alongside platform one.[5] The station was hit by two German parachute mines on 22 July 1941, which destroyed the ticket hall on platform four and damaged the island platform.[5]
In preparation for the closure of Southern Terminus station near the docks in 1966, alterations were made to the station's parcel handling facilities to allow it to handle increased volume.[6] In 1967, soon after the closure of Southampton Terminus, the station was rebuilt, losing its clocktower which was replaced with an office block.[6] At this point it was renamed 'Southampton',[6] although in 1994 was once again renamed to 'Southampton Central'.[7]
A partnership between Network Rail, South West Trains and Southampton City Council saw a £3 million investment in the refurbishment of the station entrances and improved passenger facilities which was completed in 2012.[8]
Platform layout
All the platforms are split into two sections, A at the east and B at the west, allowing two services to occupy a platform at the same time, or to allow for trains dividing into two portions or attaching to make one train. This dual use occurs throughout the day on platforms 2 and 3, and in peak hours on platforms 1 and 4.
Platforms 1 and 4 are side platforms facing the fast lines. These platforms accommodate
Platforms 2 and 3 are on an
There is also an ex-Red Star Parcels bay on the Bournemouth end of platform 4. Previously numbered as platform 5, stopping services between here and Brockenhurst used this platform, but the platform can no longer be used for passenger services due to the lack of a proper starting signal. It is now used for the stabling of spare units. Up and down goods loops are located a short distance to the west of the station. These allow terminating trains to clear the platforms for through services if required, and also to allow passenger services to pass freight or empty coaching stock trains.[10]
Services
Southampton Central has two trains an hour to
Romsey can be reached from Southampton Central using trains departing in both directions, by South Western Railway via Chandler's Ford in the up direction and by South Western Railway and Great Western Railway via Redbridge in the down.
At the station,
- 2 tph to London Waterloo (fast)
- 1 tph to Weymouth
- 1 tph to Poole
- 1 tph to Winchester (stopping)
- 1 tph to Bournemouth (stopping)
- 1 tph to Portsmouth and Southsea/Portsmouth Harbour(stopping)
- 1 tph to Romsey via St Denys
- 1 tph to Salisbury via Redbridge and Romsey
Great Western Railway offer the following in their normal Monday to Friday off-peak service pattern:
- 1 tph to Cardiff Central
- 1 tph to Portsmouth Harbour
CrossCountry offer the following in their normal Monday to Friday off-peak service pattern:
- 1tph to Bournemouth
- 1tph to Manchester Piccadilly
In December 2007, a number of changes were made to South West Trains, First Great Western and Southern services. The Waterloo to Southampton Central stopping service was extended to Poole, replacing in part the former Brockenhurst to Wareham stopping service. The former Poole train was extended to Weymouth.
The Totton to Romsey shuttle and the Salisbury to Southampton Central portion of the First Great Western Westbury to Southampton Central service were replaced by a South West Trains Salisbury to Romsey via Southampton Central and Chandlers Ford service, which calls at Romsey twice on its journey.[12][13] Southern introduced a new service from Southampton Central to Brighton, and the service to London Victoria now runs via Horsham rather than via Hove.
In December 2008,
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Fareham | Great Western Railway Portsmouth Harbour – Cardiff Central |
Romsey | ||
Southampton Airport Parkway | Bournemouth-Manchester
|
Brockenhurst or Bournemouth | ||
Southampton Airport Parkway | South Western Railway
London – Weymouth |
Totton or Brockenhurst | ||
St Denys | South Western Railway
Romsey – St Denys – Southampton – Redbridge – Romsey – Salisbury |
Millbrook (Hampshire)
| ||
Portsmouth – Southampton
|
Terminus | |||
Swanwick or St Denys or Woolston |
London Victoria – Southampton (via Horsham)
|
Terminus | ||
Swanwick or Southampton Airport Parkway (limited) |
Brighton – Southampton
|
Terminus |
Connections
As well as services to the wider area, there are bus services connecting the station to:
- the city centre
- the Isle of Wight Red Funnel and Blue Funnel ferries
- the National Oceanography Centre
- Southampton Airport
- the University of Southampton's Highfield Campus
Notes
References
- ISBN 1-85260-508-1, p. 214.
- ^ "Office of Rail & Road".
- ISBN 0906899788.
- ISBN 0906899788.
- ^ ISBN 0906899788.
- ^ ISBN 0906899788.
- ISBN 0906899788.
- ^ "Planning Southampton City Centre City Centre Action Plan, Part C" (PDF). Southampton City Council. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "South Western Railway timetable Southampton Central-London Waterloo" (PDF).
- ^ Network Rail Sectional Appendix Wessex, Network Rail 2018
- ^ GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Table 165 (Network Rail)
- ^ "Timetable changes for December – South West Trains". Archived from the original on 13 October 2007.
- ^ ""First Great Western – Draft December 07 to May 08 Timetable"" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2011.
- ^ "CrossCountry December 2008 timetable" (PDF). Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
- ^ "CrossCountry December 2023 timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 7 December 2023.
External links
- Train times and station information for Southampton Central railway station from National Rail
- Eighty years since Southampon West station became Southampton Central (28 December 2015)