Southampton Central railway station

History

Southampton Central station was opened as Southampton West in 1895, to replace the smaller nearby West End station; this was originally named Blechynden when it opened in 1847. 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. The new station buildings were largely constructed from concrete in the art deco style.

An air raid on 23 November 1940 damaged the buildings alongside platform one. 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.

In preparation for the closure of Southern Terminus station, near to the docks in 1966, alterations were made to the station's parcel handling facilities to allow it to handle increased volume. At this point, it was renamed Southampton,

A partnership between Network Rail, South West Trains and Southampton City Council saw a £3million investment in the refurbishment of the station entrances and improved passenger facilities which was completed in 2012.

Former services

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 , replacing in part the former to stopping service. The former Poole train was extended to .

The to shuttle and the Salisbury to Southampton Central portion of the First Great Western to Southampton Central service were replaced by a South West Trains to Romsey via Southampton Central and Chandlers Ford service, which calls at Romsey twice on its journey. Southern introduced a new service from Southampton Central to , and the service to London Victoria then operated via rather than via . This service was later withdrawn by Southern in 2024, although a single northbound service in the morning peak was retained.

In December 2008, CrossCountry launched its new timetable with most trains operating between Bournemouth and , with one service originating at and one service on Saturdays terminating at . During a short period in the summer, there was also a single service on Saturdays to . , an hourly CrossCountry train runs from to , via , calling at Southampton Central. There were also around six trains per day in each direction on the to route, via , which occasionally extended to Southampton Central, but no longer operates.

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 CrossCountry's service between Manchester Piccadilly and Bournemouth; Great Western Railway's service between Cardiff Central and Portsmouth Harbour; and fast services between London Waterloo and Weymouth operated by South Western Railway.

Platforms 2 and 3 are on an island, facing the slow lines. Services typically serving these platforms include South Western Railway's local services between Romsey and Salisbury, and between here and Portsmouth & Southsea. Southern services between here and Brighton also serve these platforms.

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.

Services

Southampton Central is served by four train operating companies, with the following typical off-peak service patterns in trains per hour (tph):

South Western Railway

• 2 tph to London Waterloo (fast), taking approximately 80 minutes
• 1 tph to
• 1 tph to Weymouth and , dividing at Bournemouth
• 1 tph to (stopping)
• 1 tph to (stopping)
• 1 tph to (stopping)
• 1 tph to via
• 1 tph to via and Romsey.

Southern

• 2 tph to via .

Great Western Railway

• 1 tph to via
• 1 tph to .

CrossCountry

• 1tph to Bournemouth
• 1tph to

Romsey can be reached by trains departing in both directions: by South Western Railway via in the up direction, and by South Western Railway and Great Western Railway via in the down.

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

References

Notes

Citations

References

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). ''The Directory of Railway Stations'', Patrick Stephens Ltd, Sparkford, {{ISBN. 1-85260-508-1, p. 214.
2. "Office of Rail & Road".
3. Moody, Bert. (1997). "Southampton's Railways". Atlantic Publishers.
4. Moody, Bert. (1997). "Southampton's Railways". Atlantic Publishers.
5. Moody, Bert. (1997). "Southampton's Railways". Atlantic Publishers.
6. Moody, Bert. (1997). "Southampton's Railways". Atlantic Publishers.
7. "Planning Southampton City Centre City Centre Action Plan, Part C". Southampton City Council.
8. "Timetable changes for December – South West Trains".
9. ""First Great Western – Draft December 07 to May 08 Timetable"".
10. "CrossCountry December 2008 timetable".
11. "CrossCountry December 2023 timetable".
12. "South Western Railway timetable Southampton Central-London Waterloo".
13. Network Rail Sectional Appendix Wessex, Network Rail 2018
14. (2 June 2024). "Timetables". South Western Railway.
15. (2 June 2024). "Timetables". Southern Railway.
16. (2 June 2024). "Train Times". Great Western Railway.
17. (2 June 2024). "Train Timetables". CrossCountry.