General information | |||||
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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 | |||||
2019/20 | 0.679 million | ||||
2020/21 | 0.133 million | ||||
2021/22 | 0.387 million | ||||
2022/23 | 0.496 million | ||||
2023/24 | 0.544 million | ||||
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Basingstoke & Alton Light Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Alton railway station serves 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.
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.
The first station, opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1852, was sited on what is now the station car park. It closed when the present station opened in 1865. The LSWR 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.
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 called Alton before 1954.
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]
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.
There is a ticket office which is open seven days a week, with a ticket machine beside the booking hall. There is a long line public address system providing automated announcements and digital information displays to offer train running details. A car park with 207 spaces is available for passengers. [3]
The standard off-peak service provides two trains per hour to London Waterloo. On Sundays, there is an hourly service, increasing to half-hourly from approximately 13:30. Services are operated by South Western Railway. [4]
Services are usually operated by Class 450 Desiro electric multiple units, although Class 444 and Class 458 EMUs are sometimes used.
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
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Bentley or Farnham | South Western Railway Alton Line | Terminus | ||
Heritage railways | ||||
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 Halt |
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter and Plymouth, and to Padstow, Ilfracombe and Bude. It developed a network of routes in Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire, including Portsmouth and Reading.
Winchester railway station serves the city of Winchester, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is a stop on the South West Main Line and was known as Winchester City from 1949–67, to distinguish it from Winchester (Chesil) station. It is 66 miles 39 chains (107.0 km) down the line from London Waterloo.
The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south western suburbs of London and the conurbations based on Southampton and Bournemouth. It runs through the counties of Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset. It forms the core of the network built by the London and South Western Railway, today mostly operated by South Western Railway.
Windsor & Eton Riverside station is a station in Windsor, Berkshire, England. The station, close to the River Thames and Windsor Castle, is a Grade II listed building. It is 25 miles 48 chains (41.2 km) down the line from London Waterloo and is the terminus of the Staines to Windsor Line, served by South Western Railway.
Ascot railway station serves the town of Ascot in Berkshire, England. It is 28 miles 79 chains (46.7 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South Western Railway. It is at the junction of the Waterloo to Reading line with the Ascot to Guildford line.
Aldershot railway station is located near the town centre of Aldershot in Hampshire, England. It is 35 miles (56 km) down the line from London Waterloo. It is on the Alton Line, part of the National Rail network, with train services and station facilities provided by South Western Railway.
The Alton line is a railway line in Hampshire and Surrey, England, operated by South Western Railway; it is a relatively long branch of the South West Main Line.
The Mid-Hants Railway (MHR) originated when local people promoted a railway line between Alton and a junction near Winchester, connected to the larger London and South Western Railway at each end. It was authorised as the Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway in 1861, and changed its name to the Mid-Hants Railway in 1865. It was opened for traffic in 1865. It was a single track 18 miles long, and had some very steep gradients. It had been unable to raise much share capital and it was heavily indebted from the outset, incurring heavy interest outlays.
Ashurst New Forest railway station is in Ashurst, Hampshire, England, on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. It is 85 miles 43 chains (137.7 km) down the line from Waterloo.
Salisbury railway station serves the cathedral city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. It is 83 miles 43 chains (134.4 km) from London Waterloo on the West of England line to Exeter St Davids. This is crossed by the Wessex Main Line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. The station is operated and served by South Western Railway (SWR), and is also served by Great Western Railway (GWR).
Andover railway station serves the town of Andover, Hampshire, England. The station is served and operated by South Western Railway. It is 66 miles 19 chains (106.6 km) down the line from London Waterloo on the West of England Main Line.
Fareham railway station is on the West Coastway Line, situated about 0.62 miles (1 km) from the town of Fareham in Hampshire, England. It is 84 miles 21 chains (135.6 km) down the line from London Waterloo.
Brookwood is a National Rail railway station in Brookwood in the English county of Surrey. It is 27 miles 79 chains (45.0 km) down the line from London Waterloo.
Ash Vale is a railway station serving the village of Ash Vale in Surrey, England. It is situated at the junction of the London to Alton line and the Ascot to Guildford line, 32 miles 38 chains (52.3 km) down the line from London Waterloo. The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway.
Alresford railway station is a railway station serving New Alresford, Winchester, Hampshire, England.
Ash railway station serves the village of Ash in Surrey, England. The station is served by South Western Railway, who manage the station, and by Great Western Railway. It is situated on the Ascot to Guildford line and the North Downs Line, 36 miles 34 chains (58.6 km) from London Waterloo.
Micheldever railway station, in the village of Micheldever Station, serves Micheldever and the surrounding area in Hampshire, England. It is a flint building with an added veranda. The station is on the South West Main Line, 58 miles 4 chains (93.4 km) down the line from London Waterloo towards Southampton and is managed by South Western Railway. The station is near the A303 Basingstoke to Andover road approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) from the village.
The Meon Valley Railway was a cross-country railway in Hampshire, England, that ran for 22 miles (36 km) between Alton and Fareham, closely following the course of the River Meon. At its northern (Alton) end, it joined with the Alton Line from London. It was conceived as an additional main line to the area around Gosport, and it was opened in 1903. It never fulfilled its planned potential, and remained a local line through sparsely populated agricultural areas, and it closed to passenger services in 1955; some local goods services continued until total closure in 1968.
The London Necropolis Railway was a railway line opened in November 1854 by the London Necropolis Company (LNC), to carry corpses and mourners between London and the LNC's newly opened Brookwood Cemetery, 23 miles (37 km) southwest of London in Brookwood, Surrey. At the time the largest cemetery in the world, Brookwood Cemetery was designed to be large enough to accommodate all the deaths in London for centuries to come, and the LNC hoped to gain a monopoly on London's burial industry. The cemetery had intentionally been built far enough from London so as never to be affected by urban growth and was dependent on the recently invented railway to connect it to the city.
The Aldershot and Alton lines of the LSWR were railways developed from 1849 onwards in the region in Surrey and Hampshire, England, between the Southampton main line and Guildford. First was a line from Guildford to Farnham, soon extended to Alton in 1852. The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway, an affiliate of the South Eastern Railway (SER), used part of that line by running powers. When the Aldershot Garrison and associated camps opened, suddenly Aldershot had a large population, both civilian and military, and the LSWR built a line from Pirbright Junction, on the Southampton main line. As well as serving Aldershot, this line gave a more direct route from London. It opened in 1870.