Wareham railway station serves the historic market town of Wareham in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. It is situated about north of the town centre. It is down the line from . On tickets it is printed "Wareham Dorset" to avoid confusion with Ware railway station.

History

The original Wareham station was built to serve the

Southampton and Dorchester Railway The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was an English railway company formed to join Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester in Dorset, with hopes of forming part of a route from London to Exeter. It received parliamentary authority in 1845 a ...

and opened in 1847. The current station opened in 1887, replacing the original station, and was sited east of what is now only a pedestrian crossing but was once a busy road

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

(the road now bridges the railway) This station had two

bay platform In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms. They must have a buffer stop ...

s which served the branch line to

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. In the Unit ...

from 1885 until 1972, when the branch closed. The branch line to Swanage is now the preserved

Swanage Railway The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway. The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and Sout ...

, a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

operated

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

that currently operates between Swanage and a

Park and Ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

site at Norden just north of

Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the Corfe Castle (village), village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and ...

. The rail connection between the Swanage Railway and the

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

tracks at Worgret Junction has been restored,"Project Wareham / The Purbeck Line"
wanage Railway restoring a connection with the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

network. On Summer Saturdays trains run through from a number of

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

stations, including

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London railway 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 Undergroun ...

and

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

through Wareham to Corfe Castle to link with Swanage Railway services. This has now been further upgraded to a service hauled by Swanage Railways Class 117 and Class 121 on busy days running Tuesdays to Thursdays and Saturdays. This service consisted of 3-4 trains a day with the first leaving Wareham at 11:19. This trial started on the 4 of April 2023 and ended on the 9 of September the same year.

Services

Wareham station is served by one

services an hour from

to Weymouth, strengthened to twice per hour on Saturdays, with a Class 444. Prior to 9 December 2007 it was the terminus for an hourly local service from

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 ...

, but this has now been partially replaced by the additional Weymouth service. The station is also served by 4 trains a day, everyday except Monday, Friday and Sunday from Wareham to Swanage operated by Swanage Railway. This started on the 4th of April 2023 and is due to run until September as a trial service. This service is operated by the recently overhauled Class 117 and a Class 121 attached on the end for busy days. Until 1967, trains through the station were normally steam hauled. Class 205 (2H) diesel electric multiple units were used during the final years of British Rail operation on the Swanage branch. Between 1967 and 1988, passenger services on the London-Weymouth line were normally provided by Class 33/1 diesel locomotives with Class 438 coaching stock (also known as 4-TC units). The line was electrified in 1988, using the standard British Rail Southern Region direct current third rail at 750 volts. After electrification, Class 442 electric multiple units were initially used, but these were replaced by Class 444 electric multiple units in 2007.

Heritage

The

is connected and fully accessible from the main line at Worgret Junction, although the normal steam service on the line still runs from Swanage and terminates at Norden station near

. Certain services were extended to terminate at Wareham, allowing interchange with the main line. This was achieved on 13 June 2017 when a four-coach diesel-hauled trial service began running to Wareham. This was the first train to work between the two towns since the Swanage branch closed in 1972.London to Swanage train arrives after 37-year wait

Dorset Echo The ''Dorset Echo'' is a daily newspaper published in the county of Dorset, England. The title publishes Monday to Saturday from editorial offices in Weymouth, and covers issues concerning south, central and west Dorset. The ''Dorset Echo'' ...

, 2 April 2009 Special services operated between Wareham and Swanage on some dates during the summer of 2017 as a trial. A further trial took place in the form of a 4 trains a day service every day except Mondays, Fridays and Sundays operated by Swanage Railways Class 117 and Class 121 units. This started on the 4th of April and ran until September 9. Plans for the service returning next year are unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wareham Railway Station Railway stations in Dorset Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1887 Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations served by South Western Railway Wareham, Dorset DfT Category D stations