Broadstone railway station (Dorset)

Broadstone was a railway station in the northern part of the Borough of Poole in the county of Dorset in England. It opened in 1872 under the name of New Poole Junction and closed to passengers in 1966. Between these dates there were several changes of name for a station which at its height provided a suburb of Poole with four substantial platforms and a goods yard. A prominent feature of the station was the large footbridge needed to span the four running lines.

Broadstone (Dorset)
The station in 1963
General information
LocationBroadstone, Poole
England
Grid referenceSZ004959
Platforms4
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companySouthampton and Dorchester Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and South Western Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
2 December 1872Opened as New Poole Junction
January 1875Renamed Poole Junction
July 1883Renamed Poole Junction & Broadstone
January 1887Renamed Broadstone & New Poole Junction
15 February 1889Renamed Broadstone Junction
7 July 1929Renamed Broadstone (Dorset)
1956Renamed Broadstone
7 March 1966Closed

Opened as New Poole Junction in 1872, as part of the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, the station was the junction for the new line into Poole that superseded the old station at Lower Hamworthy. When the line was extended to Bournemouth West Broadstone became the junction for the trains to the Bournemouth station. Then the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway constructed a cutoff line to avoid the need to reverse in Wimborne and Broadstone became the meeting point of two lines, although the construction of further cutoffs to improve access to Bournemouth reduced its importance.

Broadstone (position on network)
Distances
Times
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
94.83
Bailey Gate
2:42
Ringwood Line
Wimborne
97.69
Corfe Mullen Halt
2:49
102.51
Broadstone
2:55
104.59
Creekmoor Halt
2:59
Hamworthy Junction
Poole Quay and original ferry link
Poole Original (now Hamworthy Goods Station)
Current Cross Channel Ferry Port
108.03
Poole
3:03
South West Main Line
Distances and times from Bath on the
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway

Decline and closure

The first line through Broadstone to close for passengers was the Old Road from Brockenhurst via Ringwood in 1964. The line to Hamworthy Junction was lifted in 1966. This same year, the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway lost its passenger services. This left Broadstone the junction of two goods lines, one to serve a goods depot at Blandford Forum via a stub of the SDJR and one which passed through Wimborne to serve the RAOC fuel depot at West Moors. The Blandford Forum freight line closed and was lifted in 1969 . The goods traffic to Wimborne maintained a track running through the site until 1977 after which the track was lifted and the land sold for redevelopment.

The site today

Today the site is occupied by Broadstone Leisure Centre, its car park and a traffic roundabout. A subway to Broadstone's shopping area passes under the roads where the railway bridge used to be. This, and the building of some houses on the old trackbed north of the station site, mean that the Castleman Trailway skirts the edge of the former site before regaining the old trackbed on the way to Wimborne.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Creekmoor Halt
Line and station closed
  Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
Dorset Central Railway
  Corfe Mullen Halt
Line and station closed
Creekmoor Halt
Line and station closed
  London and South Western Railway
Southampton and Dorchester Railway
  Wimborne
Line and station closed
Hamworthy Junction
Line closed, station open
   

Further reading

  • R.V.J. Butt (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1
  • J.H. Lucking. Railways of Dorset. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society 1968. ISBN(no ISBN)

50.76269°N 1.99569°W / 50.76269; -1.99569

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