Southampton Central railway station

Southampton Central (originally Southampton West and later known simply as Southampton) is a main line railway 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]} It is the busiest station in Hampshire.^[2]

Southampton Central
General information
Location	Southampton, City of Southampton, England
Coordinates	50°54′27″N 1°24′51″W
Grid reference	SU41191223
Managed by	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
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
2023/24	5.795 million
Interchange	0.842 million
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

v t e Railway lines in and around 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 Line 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 between here and London Waterloo, Weymouth and Portsmouth & Southsea. Other operators are CrossCountry (providing services between here and Bournemouth, Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly), Great Western Railway (between here and Portsmouth Harbour, Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central) and Southern (linking Southampton with Havant, Chichester, Worthing and Brighton).

History

Southampton West station, c.1908

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.^[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 to 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 it was once again renamed to Southampton Central in 1994.^[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]

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 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.^[9][10] Southern introduced a new service from Southampton Central to Brighton, and the service to London Victoria then operated via Horsham rather than via Hove. 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 Manchester Piccadilly, with one service originating at Nottingham and one service on Saturdays terminating at Newcastle.^[11] During a short period in the summer, there was also a single service on Saturdays to Leeds. As of December 2023^[update], an hourly CrossCountry train runs from Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly, via Coventry, calling at Southampton Central. There were also around six trains per day in each direction on the Reading to Newcastle route, via Doncaster, which occasionally extended to Southampton Central, but no longer operates.^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14]

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^[15]

• 2 tph to London Waterloo (fast), taking approximately 80 minutes
• 1 tph to Weymouth
• 1 tph to Weymouth and Poole, dividing at Bournemouth
• 1 tph to Winchester (stopping)
• 1 tph to Bournemouth (stopping)
• 1 tph to Portsmouth and Southsea (stopping)
• 1 tph to Romsey via Eastleigh
• 1 tph to Salisbury via Redbridge and Romsey

A Gatwick Express Class 387 operating a Southern service to Brighton and a Great Western Railway Class 165 operating a service to Cardiff Central.

Southern^[16]

• 2 tph to Brighton via Worthing

Great Western Railway^[17]

• 1 tph to Cardiff Central via Bristol Temple Meads
• 1 tph to Portsmouth Harbour

CrossCountry^[18]

• 1tph to Bournemouth
• 1tph to Manchester Piccadilly

Romsey can be reached by 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.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Fareham		Great Western Railway Wessex Main line		Romsey
Southampton Airport Parkway Limited Service
Southampton Airport Parkway		CrossCountry Bournemouth-Manchester		Brockenhurst or Bournemouth
Southampton Airport Parkway		South Western Railway South West Main line		Totton or Brockenhurst
St Denys		South Western Railway Wessex Main line		Millbrook (Hampshire)
		South Western Railway West Coastway line		Terminus
Woolston		Southern West Coastway line		Terminus
Southampton Airport Parkway Limited Service

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

1. Railways in the United Kingdom historically are measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to one mile.