Beaulieu Road railway station

Beaulieu Road railway station is located at the point where the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth crosses the B3056 road from Beaulieu to Lyndhurst in Hampshire, England. It is 88 miles 6 chains (141.7 km) down the line from Waterloo. Beaulieu Road is the least used station in Hampshire according to the official passenger statistics.[1]

For the proposed station in Essex, see Beaulieu railway station. For the station in the Highlands, see Beauly railway station.

Beaulieu Road
Beaulieu Road station platforms
LocationBeaulieu, District of New Forest
England
Coordinates50°51′16″N 1°30′17″W
Grid referenceSU349062
Managed bySouth Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBEU
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companySouthampton and Dorchester Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and South Western Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
1 June 1847Opened
1 March 1860Closed
1 November 1895Reopened
Passengers
2015/16 9,228
2016/17 8,858
2017/18 9,034
2018/19 10,586
2019/20 12,040
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History
The station in 1963

Opened by the Southampton and Dorchester Railway (S&DR) on 1 June 1847,[2] the station was not originally intended to serve the village of Beaulieu, which lies some 3.5 miles (5.5 km) distant. The railway company were obliged to open it as a 'personal' station for Lord Montagu, a concession to him for allowing the railway to be built over part of his Beaulieu Estate. A special signal would indicate to the train drivers that they should stop for Lord Montagu and his guests.

The station was closed by the London and South Western Railway (which had absorbed the S&DR in 1848[3]) on 1 March 1860, and reopened on 1 November 1895.[2] It was destaffed in the early 1960s.

Services

Nowadays the station is served by London Waterloo to Poole stopping services operated by South Western Railway. As of the December 2007 timetable, on Mondays to Fridays trains call only during the morning peak and late afternoon. From May 2008, a late morning service has also been added in each direction. In 2013 there were down trains, towards Poole, every two or three hours on Monday to Friday, the last being 20:44, but only three up trains (08:08, 11:38 and 18:38). On Saturdays there were five up and six down services. On Sundays, however, there was a better service, with trains to and from Poole calling hourly throughout the day.

The May 2016 timetable is essentially the same as that of 2013, though an extra weekday London-bound departure has been added at 13:38.[4]

Even on Sundays, however, services to and from Brockenhurst are much more frequent than those to Beaulieu Road.

The New Forest Tour summer open top bus service stops adjacent to Beaulieu Road.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Ashurst New Forest   South Western Railway
London-Poole stopping service		   Brockenhurst

Notes
  1. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  2. Butt 1995, p. 30.
  3. Awdry 1990, p. 198.
  4. Table 158 National Rail timetable, May 2016

References
  • Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. London: Guild Publishing. CN 8983.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Beaulieu Road - Least Used Station in Hampshire, 2017 film by Geoff Marshall about the station.
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