Swaythling railway station

Swaythling National Rail

Swaythling station platforms (the station building is out of the picture to the right)
Location
Place Swaythling
Local authority City of Southampton
Coordinates 50°56′28″N 1°22′35″W / 50.9411°N 1.3765°W / 50.9411; -1.3765Coordinates: 50°56′28″N 1°22′35″W / 50.9411°N 1.3765°W / 50.9411; -1.3765
Grid reference SU439159
Operations
Station code SWG
Managed by South West Trains
Number of platforms 2
DfT category E
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  73,682
2005/06 Increase 77,802
2006/07 Increase 85,292
2007/08 Increase 88,684
2008/09 Increase 90,004
2009/10 Decrease 83,600
2010/11 Increase 89,816
2011/12 Increase 103,746
2012/13 Increase 114,594
2013/14 Increase 130,228
2014/15 Increase 138,090
History
Key dates Opened 15 October 1883 (15 October 1883)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Swaythling from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Swaythling railway station is a railway station on the South Western Main Line on the northern edge of Southampton in Hampshire, England, serving the area of Swaythling.

History

Swaythling railway station.

Swaythling station was built in 1883 in an elaborate Neo-Flemish style[1] and is a grade II listed building.[2] The left side has a Flemish gable with central pediment and ball finials and includes a date tablet. The station building was set back to the east of the down platform - and connected to the platform canopy structure by a passageway - so that it would not have to be rebuilt in the event of the double track being widened to quadruple tracking,[3] which was envisaged in 1883 but has never taken place.

On 19 January 1941, during the Second World War, a 2,000-pound (907 kg) bomb fell on the station, through both the roof and floor of the booking office. The bomb did not explode, but the impact killed the leading porter's dog (who was asleep in a cupboard) and scattered burning coals from the hearth, causing a fire. The fire led officials to believe the bomb had exploded and the station was declared safe for reoccupation the next day, until the landlord of the nearby Mason's Arms pub raised the alarm since he had not heard the bomb explode. The bomb was then dug up and made safe.[4]

Train services

Currently operated by South West Trains, it is served by the hourly Salisbury to Romsey via Southampton and Eastleigh service. There are additional services at peak times to Basingstoke, Winchester, London Waterloo, Southampton and Brockenhurst.[5]

Facilities

Step-free access is available only to the down platform (usually for trains to Salisbury via Southampton Central and Romsey). This platform has the ticket office (open weekday mornings only), a ticket vending machine and step-free access to a footbridge crossing the railway. The up platform contains steps to the footbridge and steps down to Stoneham Way.

Friends of Swaythling Station

A community group, the Friends of Swaythling Station, was formed in October 2009 [6] and won first prize in the Best Station Adoption Group category at the 2011 Association of Community Rail Partnerships awards.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Sites and Monuments
  2. ↑ Southampton City Council: Listed buildings in Southampton Accessed 17 September 2007.
  3. ↑ "Three Rivers Rail: Swaythling". Three Rivers Rail. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  4. ↑ Williams, Michael (2013). Steaming to Victory: How Britain's Railways Won the War. Random House. ISBN 978-0099557678.
  5. ↑ Table 158 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  6. ↑ "Friends of Swaythling Station" (PDF). Southampton City Council. November 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "ACORP Community Rail Awards 2011 winners". Retrieved 3 July 2012.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swaythling railway station.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Southampton Airport
Parkway		   South West Trains
Salisbury to Romsey via Southampton and Eastleigh		   St Denys
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.