Ringwood railway station

For the railway station in Victoria, Australia, see Ringwood railway station, Melbourne.
Ringwood

Former site of railway station, now an industrial area
Location
Place Ringwood
Area New Forest, Hampshire
Grid reference SU153047
Operations
Original company Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway
Pre-grouping Southampton and Dorchester Railway
London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
Platforms 2
History
1 June 1847 Opened
4 May 1964 Closed to passengers
7 August 1967 Closed to freight
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Ringwood is a closed railway station in the county of Hampshire which served the town of Ringwood. It lay on the former Southampton and Dorchester Railway, the original main line from a connection with the London and South Western Railway at Southampton through Brockenhurst to Dorchester.

The later development of Bournemouth as a major town led to the building of a branch from Ringwood through to Christchurch, later extended to Bournemouth - see Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway. In 1885 the present main line from Brockenhurst to Christchurch and on to Poole via what is now Bournemouth Central was opened and the Ringwood to Christchurch line relegated to branch status, closing to all traffic in 1935. The Southampton and Dorchester line continued to carry all the trains to Dorchester and beyond to Weymouth until the Holes Bay Curve linking Poole with Hamworthy Junction opened in 1893. From then passenger trains were mostly restricted to local services between Brockenhurst and Bournemouth West, although at various times there were through services on a daily or weekly basis to places such as Weymouth, Southampton and Eastleigh.

With the build-up of holiday traffic in the 20th century, the route also proved a useful alternative to the congested Bournemouth line for summer Saturday trains to Weymouth and Swanage. Through goods trains also continued regularly to use the line. The central section of the Southampton and Dorchester Railway from Lymington Junction (exclusive) to Broadstone Junction (exclusive) was closed to passengers on 4 May 1964, one of the first closures following the Beeching Report of March 1963. The line east of Ringwood was closed completely and the track lifted in 1965. However public goods services continued from the Poole direction until August 1967 and the track was shortly thereafter lifted back to the RAOC fuel depot at West Moors.

Line today

The station was demolished after closure and most of the site has been redeveloped with industrial units. The trackbed approaching the town from each direction is now part of the Castleman Trailway.

A report from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) published in June 2009 recommended the rebuilding of part of the Brockenhurst to Poole line from Brockenhurst to Ringwood. The report (Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network) looked into the feasibility of reopening disused lines and stations, it concluded that there was a business case for investing £70m in the new link with an hourly service.[1]

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Holmsley
Line and station closed		   British Rail
Southern Region
Southampton and Dorchester Railway		   Ashley Heath
Line and station closed
Terminus   Southern Railway
Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway		   Avon Lodge
Line and station closed

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Connecting Communities - expanding access to the rail network" (PDF). London: Association of Train Operating Companies. June 2009. p. 19. Archived from the original (pdf) on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2015.

Further reading

Coordinates: 50°50′30″N 1°47′05″W / 50.8418°N 1.7847°W / 50.8418; -1.7847

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