Boscombe railway station
Encyclopedia
Boscombe railway station was a station in Bournemouth
, now in the county of Dorset
, England
. It was opened in 1897 at which time the previous station with the name was renamed Pokesdown
. The station served the Royal Victoria Hospital and the centre of Boscombe
around the Royal Arcade. It was also the closest station to Dean Court, the home of the football club known during the station's life as Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic FC.
The station had a goods yard which received traffic from a large area of Bournemouth, and a large coal depot with sidings. It also had substantial brick buildings which were demolished a few years after closure. The accompanying image has a distant view of Gloucester Road bridge. Closure took place, just before the electrification of the line through it, on 4 October 1965.
pass the piles of gravel that are all that remain of the platforms. These can still be seen alongside the line from the bridge that carries the Ashley Road over the line just to the west of the site.
There have been calls for the re-opening of the station by the Dorset Area Rail Transport System, as well as by the Bournemouth Liberal Democrats
. A major reported stumbling block to reopening is the substantial cost of installing lifts to the tracks and extending the platforms to accommodate 10-car trains.
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, now in the county of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was opened in 1897 at which time the previous station with the name was renamed Pokesdown
Pokesdown railway station
Pokesdown for Boscombe railway station is a railway station serving the Pokesdown, Boscombe and Southbourne areas of Bournemouth in Dorset, England...
. The station served the Royal Victoria Hospital and the centre of Boscombe
Boscombe
Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth. Located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne, It developed rapidly from a small village as a seaside resort alongside Bournemouth after the first Boscombe pier was built in 1888...
around the Royal Arcade. It was also the closest station to Dean Court, the home of the football club known during the station's life as Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic FC.
The station had a goods yard which received traffic from a large area of Bournemouth, and a large coal depot with sidings. It also had substantial brick buildings which were demolished a few years after closure. The accompanying image has a distant view of Gloucester Road bridge. Closure took place, just before the electrification of the line through it, on 4 October 1965.
The Site Today
The area of the station yard is now occupied by a small industrial estate and the old coal yard awaits redevelopment. Trains on the South Western Main LineSouth Western Main Line
The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth...
pass the piles of gravel that are all that remain of the platforms. These can still be seen alongside the line from the bridge that carries the Ashley Road over the line just to the west of the site.
There have been calls for the re-opening of the station by the Dorset Area Rail Transport System, as well as by the Bournemouth Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. A major reported stumbling block to reopening is the substantial cost of installing lifts to the tracks and extending the platforms to accommodate 10-car trains.