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Southampton Central railway station is a main line station serving the city of Southampton in Hampshire, southern England. It is on the South West Main Line and also serves the Wessex Main Line and the West Coastway Line. The station is approached from the London direction by passing through Southampton Tunnel and is 79 miles 19 chains (127.5 km) measured from London Waterloo.[note 1]

Southampton Central
General information
Location	Southampton, Hampshire, England
Grid reference	SU412121
Managed by	South Western Railway
Platforms	4
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 (Southampton West)
1934–1935	Enlarged
7 July 1935	Renamed (Southampton Central)
10 July 1967	Renamed (Southampton)
29 May 1994[1]	Renamed (Southampton Central)
Passengers
2016/17	6.361 million
2017/18	6.538 million
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
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

v t e Railway lines in Southampton
Legend
West Coastway Line to Brighton and Portsmouth Fareham to Gosport Line Fareham Wessex Main Line to Bristol via Salisbury M27 motorway Sprat and Winkle Line to Andover Knowle Halt Romsey Meon Valley Railway to Alton Bishops Waltham Swanwick Durley Halt Botley Chandlers Ford River Hamble South West Main Line to London Waterloo Hedge End A27 road Eastleigh Bursledon Eastleigh Works Hamble Hamble fuel terminal Southampton Airport Parkway Netley Hospital Netley M27 motorway Sholing A27 road Woolston Swaythling Bitterne Portswood (1861–66) River Itchen St Denys Northam Road (1839–40) Northam TMD Northam Southampton Tunnel Southampton West End (1847–95) Southampton Terminus Southampton Central Eastern Docks Town Quay Millbrook Central Docks Western Docks Container Port Nursling Redbridge Fawley Refinery River Test Fawley A35 road Hythe Totton Marchwood Port Marchwood Ashurst (New Forest) Beaulieu Road Lymington Pier Ferry to Yarmouth IoW Brockenhurst Lymington Town   Southampton and Ampress Works Halt Dorchester Railway to Dorchester via Ringwood South West Main Line to Bournemouth

The station is managed by South Western Railway who operate the majority of services, including frequent trains to London Waterloo, Bournemouth and Portsmouth Harbour. Other operators are CrossCountry (providing services to Oxford, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Newcastle), Great Western Railway (to Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central) and Southern, which links Southampton to London Victoria, East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Brighton.

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).[2] 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.[3] The new station buildings were largely constructed from concrete.[4]

An air raid on 23 November 1940 damaged the buildings alongside platform one.[4] 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.[4]

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.[5] In 1967, soon after the closure of Southampton Terminus, the station was rebuilt, losing its clocktower which was replaced with an office block.[5] At this point it was renamed Southampton,[5] although in 1994 was once again renamed to Southampton Central.[6]

A partnership between Network Rail, South West Trains and Southampton City Council saw a £3million investment in the refurbishment of the station and improved passenger facilities which was completed at the end of 2011.[7]

It was announced in late 2011 that Southampton City Council has plans to rebuild the whole station under the Western Gateway project. The project costing £200 million will see a new station with 10 platforms, and over 25,000sq metres of retail and office space. This project is part of the Future Southampton programme, set to be complete by 2025.[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 CrossCountry's Manchester to Bournemouth services (as well as an extension of the Reading to Newcastle service); Great Western Railway's Cardiff to Portsmouth route; and fast services to London Waterloo operated by South Western Railway.

Platforms 2 and 3 are on an island, facing the slow lines. On these platforms call services on South Western Railway's Romsey to Salisbury local service, its service to Portsmouth & Southsea, and its stopping services to London Waterloo. Southern services to London Victoria and Brighton also start from 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 to 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. An up goods loop to the North of the main lines and a down loop to the South are located a short distance to the West. 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.[9]

Services

Southampton Central has 2 trains an hour to London Waterloo, which take approximately 1 h 20 min.

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, South Western Railway offer the following in their normal Monday to Friday off-peak service pattern:

• 1 express train per hour between London Waterloo and Weymouth
• 1 express train per hour between London Waterloo and Poole
• 1 stopping train per hour between Winchester and Bournemouth
• 1 stopping train per hour between Southampton Central and Portsmouth and Southsea/Portsmouth Harbour
• 1 train per hour on Romsey - Chandler's Ford - Southampton Central - Redbridge - Romsey - Salisbury route in both directions

Southern offer the following in their normal Monday to Friday off-peak service pattern:[10]

• 1 train per hour between Southampton Central and Brighton
• 1 train per hour between Southampton Central and London Victoria

Great Western Railway offer the following in their normal Monday to Friday off-peak service pattern:

• 1 train per hour between Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour

CrossCountry offer the following in their normal Monday to Friday off-peak service pattern:

• 1 train per 2 hours between Bournemouth and Manchester Piccadilly

On 9 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.[11][12] 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, CrossCountry launched its new timetable with most trains operating between Bournemouth and Manchester Piccadilly, with one service originating at Nottingham and one service on Saturdays terminating at Newcastle.[13] During a short period in the summer, there is also a single service on Saturdays to Leeds. As of June 2022 a two hourly CrossCountry train runs from Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly, via Coventry, calling at Southampton Central, cut back from one train every hour due to driver shortages on CrossCountry. There were also around 6 trains per day in each direction on the Reading to Newcastle route, via Doncaster, which was extended to Southampton Central, but is currently suspended due to the driver shortage.

There are also select CrossCountry services to Scotland, mostly to Edinburgh Waverley.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Fareham		Great Western Railway Portsmouth Harbour – Cardiff Central		Romsey
Southampton Airport Parkway		CrossCountry 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
		South Western Railway Portsmouth – Southampton		Terminus
Swanwick or St Denys or Woolston		Southern London Victoria – Southampton (via Horsham)		Terminus
Swanwick or Eastleigh		Southern Brighton – Southampton		Terminus

Connections

The station has a QuayConnect shuttle bus service that links the station to the city centre and on to Town Quay, for the Isle of Wight Red Funnel and Hythe ferries. This service is operated by Bluestar and departs from the Weymouth (south) side of the station along with UniLink's U1 service, which runs between the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and Southampton Airport via the University of Southampton's Highfield Campus. This side of the station benefits from a turning circle allowing buses to come in and out.

Bus services operated by Bluestar, First Hampshire & Dorset, Stagecoach in Hampshire and Salisbury Reds use stops on the London (north) side of the station, linking the station to several areas of the city as well as locations including Salisbury, Totton and Romsey.

Notes

References

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)

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