18# Bournemouth - Railway Station

 

 

Bournemouth Railway Station

http://bit.ly/Z60TnJ Link to sounds

Three stations have served the centre of Bournemouth. The solitary surviving one, with its attractive overall roof, dates from 20^th July 1885. This sees a regular service of fast and frequent electric trains to Weymouth, Southampton and London Waterloo. Also diesel trains run further afield to Birmingham and Manchester. The wide gap between the  platforms was originally occupied by two through lines, but these were lifted in 1967 when electric trains replaced the earlier steam-powered ones.

The very first station in the town was situated on the other side of Holdenhurst Road, on a site now occupied by blocks of student accommodation. It was a small one-platform affair, at the end of a winding single track branch line from Ringwood and Christchurch. The station opened on 14^th March 1870, closing to passengers when the current station opened on the other side of the road.

On the opposite side of the town a station opened on the Queens Road on 15^th June 1874. This was the terminus for many visitors from the Midlands and North of England. Known as Bournemouth West, this officially closed from 4^th October 1965, though the last trains actually ran on 5^th September of that year.

Peter Kazmierczak, Senior Heritage Librarian, Bournemouth Libraries