Marchwood railway station was an intermediate station on the Totton, Hythe and Fawley Light Railway, which was built along the coast of Southampton Water to connect Totton and Fawley and to provide a freight link from the South West Main Line to Fawley Refinery. It was 86 miles 10 chains (86.13 miles, 138.60 km) measured from London Waterloo.

Marchwood
Marchwood railway station and level crossing gates, c.1996
General information
Location	Marchwood, New Forest England
Coordinates	50.8888°N 1.4550°W / 50.8888; -1.4550
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Totton, Hythe and Fawley Light Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways
Key dates
20 July 1925 (1925-07-20)	Opened
14 February 1966 (1966-02-14)	Closed to passenger traffic

History

The station opened on 20 July 1925 and closed to passengers on 14 February 1966.[1] The single-track non-electrified line remains open to serve Marchwood MOD sidings but freight services to Fawley refinery ceased in April 2016 [2]

Future

There has been intermittent discussion of reopening part of the Fawley branch line for passenger traffic. In June 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies published a report (Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network) strongly indicating that the reopening of the next station in the Fawley direction, Hythe, would be viable, in that the ratio of business, economic and social benefits to costs would be as high as 4.8.[3][4] The possibility of reopening Marchwood station was not mentioned in ATOC's proposal. Further studies for Hampshire County Council led to a 2014 decision not to devote further resources to reopening of the line, but planned future housing growth in the Waterside area, including 1,500 announced in 2017 on the site of the former Fawley Power Station has again reopened interest in the proposal.[5] The line has been identified as a priority for reopening to passenger use by Campaign for Better Transport.[6]

On 28 July 2020, South Western Railway ran a 'fact-finding train' down the branch line, stopping at Marchwood, to demonstrate the branch line's potential. This service carried the station's first passengers in 54 years.[7]

A series of public consultations will be held between Monday 8 August and Friday 9 September 2022 to hear views on reintroducing passenger services to the Waterside Line. [8]

Route

Trivia

Marchwood station was the set for two episodes of the British television series The Famous Five in 1978, the station was renamed Kirrin during filming.[9][10]

References