Rowlands Castle railway station

Rowlands Castle
National Rail
General information
LocationRowland's Castle, East Hampshire
England
Coordinates50°53′31″N 0°57′25″W / 50.892°N 0.957°W / 50.892; -0.957
Grid referenceSU734108
Managed bySouth Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeRLN
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Opened1 January 1859; 165 years ago (1859-01-01)
Passengers
2018/19Increase 0.131 million
2019/20Decrease 0.124 million
2020/21Decrease 47,426
2021/22Increase 96,954
2022/23Increase 0.113 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Rowlands Castle railway station serves the village of Rowland's Castle, Hampshire, England. It is located on the Portsmouth Direct Line, 63 miles 18 chains (101.8 km) down the line from London Waterloo via Woking.[1]

History

[edit]

The main station building, dating to 1859, was designed by William Tite and is Grade II listed.[2]

The station was once one of three between Petersfield and Havant, but is the only one to have enjoyed a regular service. Havant New, to the south, was a temporary station built during an inter-company dispute - the Battle of Havant; Woodcroft Halt, to the north, was open for a few years round World War 2, mainly for service personnel.

Formerly there were goods and coal sidings trailing off the Up Line at the Petersfield end of the station. There was only one crossover between the two running lines, which meant that goods trains that arrived from the Petersfield direction (usually on the 0450 Goods Woking to Rowland's Castle) had to "set-back" into the headshunt and "fly shunt" (i.e. run off) wagons into the sidings rather than propelling them. This was a skilled movement and not normally permitted by the Rule Book. There was also a siding trailing off the up line, Havant side of the station, serving a brickworks adjacent to the remains of the Castle.

Services

[edit]

The station has two tracks, and two platforms, and the standard service is hourly to both Portsmouth and Waterloo. All services are operated by South Western Railway using Class 444 and 450 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[3]

During the peak hours, there are additional services to London as well as services to Portsmouth Harbour. There is also one late evening service to Southampton Central.

The station is staffed from 6:30 - 9:30 in the morning. At all other times, people are served by ticket machines.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Petersfield   South Western Railway
  Havant
  Historical railways  
Line open, station closed
Southern Railway
Line and station open
[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 26B. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
  2. ^ Historic England (12 March 1986). "Station (Grade II) (1179151)". National Heritage List for England.
  3. ^ Table 156 National Rail timetable, May 2020
[edit]