Alton railway station geograph-2648181-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Alton with last Meon Valley train geograph-2658945-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Alton railway station is a station in the town of

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

, in the English county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. The station is the

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

for two railway lines: the ''

Alton Line The Alton line is a railway line in Hampshire and Surrey, England, operated by South Western Railway as a relatively long branch of the South West Main Line. The branch leaves the main line at Pirbright Junction to the west of Brookwood stati ...

'' which runs to Brookwood and on to

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

, and the ''

Mid Hants Watercress Railway The Watercress Line is the marketing name of the Mid-Hants Railway, a heritage railway in Hampshire, England, running from New Alresford to Alton where it connects to the National Rail network. The line gained its popular name in the days ...

'' which runs to Alresford. The latter once ran through to

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

but was closed to passengers in February 1973; it reopened as a heritage line in 1985. Two other routes, both now closed, also served the station – the Meon Valley line to

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...

and the

Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway was opened in 1901, by the London and South Western Railway. It was the first English railway authorised under Light Railway legislation. It ran through unpromising, lightly populated terrain, and was prob ...

. Services operate along the

to Brookwood and join the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) 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 we ...

towards London Waterloo. The line was single-tracked as far as

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

in the early 1980s.

Platforms

There are three platforms in use. South Western Railway use platforms one and two, connected by a footbridge. Platform three is used by the

History

The first station opened by the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) 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 ...

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 Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

of 1923. The line from Woking to Alton was electrified in 1937 and the station passed on to the

Southern Region of British Railways The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948 until 1992 when railways were re-privatised. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s. The region covered south London, southern England and the sout ...

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1948. When Sectorisation was introduced in 1986, the station was served by

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the netwo ...

, until the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

in 1997.

Location

Alton station is located in the local government district of

East Hampshire East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Petersfield. Other towns are Alton and Bordon. The district was originally to be known as the District Council of Petersfield. It comprised 42 seats a ...

. The station is nowhere near Alton Towers Resort, which is located in the rural village of

in Staffordshire, about 185 miles away. Many people trying to reach the resort have mistakenly travelled to this 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. Historically there could have been grounds for confusion:

Alton Towers railway station Alton Station, previously called Alton railway station and Alton Towers railway station, is holiday accommodation and an abandoned railway station in Staffordshire, managed by the Landmark Trust. Opened in 1849 by the North Staffordshire Railw ...

which closed in 1965 was, before 1954, called Alton railway station.

Services

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

References

* Body, G. (1984), ''PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Southern Region'', Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge. * *

External links

Station on navigable O.S. map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alton Railway Station Railway stations in Hampshire DfT Category C2 stations Heritage railway stations in Hampshire Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1852 Railway stations served by South Western Railway Alton, Hampshire 1852 establishments in England