Sway railway station serves the village of
Sway in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
,
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 ...
. It is located on 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 ...
from
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 ...
to
Weymouth. It is down the line from Waterloo.
History
The station is on the stretch of line opened on 6 March 1888 between
Brockenhurst
Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...
and
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ĺtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
to provide a direct line from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to
Bournemouth, bypassing the original
"Castleman's Corkscrew" line via
Ringwood.
The station had two platforms either side of a double track running line, there was a signal box and several sidings to the south east. A
camping coach
Camping coaches were holiday accommodation offered by many railway companies in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland from the 1930s. The coaches were old passenger vehicles no longer suitable for use in trains, which were converted to ...
was positioned here by the
Southern Region from 1956 to 1959 then there were two coaches here until 1967, from 1962 to 1967 they were ''Pullman'' camping coaches.
Facilities
The station is served by
South Western Railway, who operate stopping services from London Waterloo to
Poole throughout the day.
The station has two platforms:
*Platform 1 - for through services towards Southampton.
*Platform 2 - for through services towards Bournemouth and Weymouth.
Both platforms can only accommodate trains of up to five coaches, longer trains only open the doors in the first four or five coaches depending on the type of unit operating the service.
Services
All passenger train services calling here are operated by
South Western Railway.
As of February 2022, the following services call here in both directions:
* Monday - Friday
** peak hours: 2 trains per hour on Poole - London Waterloo service, which some of them join / split at Southampton Central with a fast train for Weymouth
** off-peak: 1 train per hour on Bournemouth - Winchester stopping service
* Saturday
** 1 train per hour on Poole - Winchester stopping service
* Sunday
** 1 train per hour on Poole - London Waterloo stopping service
References
{{Hampshire railway stations
Railway stations in Hampshire
DfT Category E stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1888
Former London and South Western Railway stations
New Forest
Railway stations served by South Western Railway