Summary
Alton railway station is a station in the market town of Alton, in the English county of Hampshire. The station is the terminus for two railway lines: the Alton Line which runs to Brookwood and on to London Waterloo, and the Mid Hants Watercress Railway which runs to Alresford. The latter once ran through to Winchester but was closed to passengers in February 1973;[1] it reopened as a heritage line in 1985. Two other routes, both now closed, also served the station – the Meon Valley line to Fareham and the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway.
Alton  | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Location | Alton, East Hampshire England |
| Grid reference | SU723397 |
| Managed by | South Western Railway |
| Platforms | 3 (2 National Rail, 1 Watercress Line) |
| Other information | |
| Station code | AON |
| Classification | DfT category C2 |
| Key dates | |
| 28 July 1852 | Station opens |
| 2 October 1865 | Station moves to adjacent site |
| February 1973 | National Rail services west of Alton curtailed |
| 25 May 1985 | Watercress Line begins heritage services west of Alton |
| Passengers | |
| 2018/19 |  0.711 million |
| 2019/20 |  0.679 million |
| 2020/21 | 0.133 million |
| 2021/22 | 0.387 million |
| 2022/23 | 0.496 million |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
Basingstoke & Alton Light Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Services operate along the Alton Line to Brookwood and join the South West Main Line towards London Waterloo. The line was single-tracked as far as Farnham by British Rail in the early 1980s.
Platforms edit
There are three platforms in use. South Western Railway use platforms one and two, connected by a footbridge. Platform three is used by the Mid Hants Railway.
History edit
The first station opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1852 was sited on what is now the station car park. It closed when the present station opened in 1865. The London & South Western Railway became part of the Southern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line from Woking to Alton was electrified in 1937 and the station passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.
When Sectorisation was introduced in 1986, the station was served by Network SouthEast, until the privatisation of British Rail in 1997.
Location edit
Alton station is located in the local government district of East Hampshire.
The station is nowhere near Alton Towers Resort, which is located in the rural village of Alton in Staffordshire, about 185 miles away. Many people trying to reach the resort have mistakenly travelled to this station. Historically there could have been grounds for confusion: Alton Towers railway station which closed in 1965 was, before 1954, called Alton railway station.
Local residents, who have encountered many people trying to find Alton Towers, have put up posters at the station containing directions from the station to the resort by train, with a journey time of approximately 4 hours and 46 minutes.[2]
Services edit
Monday to Saturdays there is a half-hourly service to London Waterloo and an hourly service on Sundays, increasing to half-hourly from approximately 1330.
Services are usually operated by Class 450 Desiro units, although the Class 444 & Class 458 is also sometimes used.
Notes edit
References edit
- Body, G. (1984), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Southern Region, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge. ISBN 0-85059-664-5
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
External links edit
- Map sources for Alton railway station
- Train times and station information for Alton railway station from National Rail
- Station on navigable O.S. map
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley | South Western Railway Alton Line |
Terminus | ||
 Heritage railways
|
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| Terminus | Mid Hants Railway (Watercress Line) | Medstead & Four Marks | ||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Treloar's Hospital Platform Line and station closed |
London and South Western Railway Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway |
Terminus | ||
| Terminus | British Rail Southern Region Meon Valley Railway |
Farringdon Platform | ||
51°09′07″N 0°58′04″W / 51.15200°N 0.96766°W