A 1910 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Portsmouth Harbour (lower left centre)
The station opened on 2 October 1876[1] as the terminus of Chief Engineer Frederick Banister's Portsmouth Waterside Extension to the Portsmouth Direct line,which runs between this station and London Waterloo station.[2] The construction of the station superseded an earlier pier on the site called the Albert Pier that was used for passenger steamships in the mid-Victorian era.[1]
The station was rebuilt in 1937 when the route was electrified but was almost totally destroyed during World War II by fire after German bombing,then rebuilt after the war.
A short branch line built on piles used to connect the station to the neighbouring dockyard,but this was taken out of service when a German bomb damaged the swing bridge in 1941.
Accidents and incidents
c.1928,T9 class locomotive No. 337 was derailed on the approach to the station,blocking all lines.[3]
16 September 1913,Frederick Potter,worked as Shunter. Potter went between the coaches and the engine,he failed to couple them on the first try,as the nudge from the loco pushed the coaches forward slightly. During this,he got his foot caught in points. Before he could get free,the leading wheel of the tender caught and crushed his leg.[4]
Facilities
The station is owned by Network Rail and is managed by South Western Railway. It currently has four platforms in use:numbered 1,3,4 and 5. Platform 2 is no longer in use,having been decommissioned in the early 1990s following major repair and refurbishment work to the pier that the platforms sit on.[5]
The ticket office is located in the booking hall,at the entrance from the ferry terminal. It is open seven days a week,until 19:00. When closed,tickets must be bought prior to travel at the ticket machines or on-line. There are customer help points. The station has 38 bicycle spaces,but no car park.[6]
The ferry from Portsmouth Harbour Station to Ryde on the Isle of Wight is operated by Wightlink. National Rail tickets between the Isle of Wight and stations on Great Britain include travel on the ferry.
The Monday-Saturday off peak rail service in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd) is as follows:
The station was also served by Wessex Trains with one train a day to and from Penzance, as well as the services that are now run by its successor Great Western Railway.
Future
Portsmouth Harbour railway station and the Hard InterchangeEntrance to Portsmouth Harbour railway station in 2025
With the award of the South West Region franchise to South Western Railway in 2017, Portsmouth City Council announced the intention to "spruce up" the station as part of a £90 Million investment by the new operating company. Potential improvements could include a direct walking route in to the Gunwharf Quays shopping complex.[11]
References
1 2 3 Easdown, Martin; Safe, Linda (2011). Piers of Hampshire & the Isle of Wight. Amberley Publishing. p.186. ISBN9781445623832.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
2.036 million
1.455 million
