Radipole was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

serving Radipole a northern area of Weymouth in the county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

Opened by the GWR as ''Radipole Halt'' on 1 July 1905, it was part of a scheme by the railway company to counter road competition, particularly from Weymouth's buses. Situated from , it was initially served by local to

rail motor Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it. Steam railcars Overview In th ...

and

Abbotsbury Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropic ...

trains. The station lasted well into the nationalised era served by to Weymouth trains on what is now known as 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 ...

, as well as Westbury line DMUs. When built, its two short platforms had GWR pagoda shelters but these rusted and were replaced with bus shelters in 1978. The word ''Halt'' was dropped from its title (and from that of other surviving BR stations where it had previously appeared) on 5 May 1969. No further services called at Radipole after 31 December 1983 as, according 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 south ...

, its wooden platforms had become "too unsafe for use to continue". At the time, the Department for Transport was considering a proposal to withdraw passenger services from the station and British Rail had stated that heavy expenditure on repairs was not justified whilst the station's future was in doubt. Official consent was received in January 1984 and the official date of closure was 6 February 1984. In 2015, a British Rail map showing the station could still be seen at Yeovil Pen Mill station.

The site today

Little now remains of the halt although the places in the wall where the access paths were bricked up can still be seen. Trains still pass on the

Heart of Wessex Line The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth Line, is a railway line that runs from to and Weymouth in England. It shares the Wessex Main Line as far as Westbury and then follows the course of the Reading to Taunton Line a ...

and the

References

External links

www.disused-stations.org.uk Radipole

History

The site today

References

External links

Further reading