Portsmouth Harbour railway station

Portsmouth Harbour railway station is a railway station in Portsmouth, England. It is situated beside Gunwharf Quays in the city's harbour, and is an important transport terminal, with a bus interchange and ferry services to Gosport and the Isle of Wight. The station currently has four platforms in use: numbered 1, 3, 4 and 5. It is managed by South Western Railway. Platform 2 is no longer in use, having been decommissioned in the early 1990s following major repair and refurbishment work to the pier that the platforms sit on.[1] The station is located adjacent to Portsmouth Harbour between the Gunwharf Quays shopping centre and the Historic Dockyard. Unusually for a mainline railway station, it is built over water as the station was originally constructed on wooden piles, which were later replaced by iron supports.[2]

Portsmouth Harbour
National Rail
The station entrance (February 2014)
General information
LocationPortsmouth, Hampshire, England
Grid referenceSU629000
Managed bySouth Western Railway
Platforms5 (4 in use)
Other information
Station codePMH
ClassificationDfT category C1
History
Opened2 October 1876
Original companyPortsmouth and Ryde Joint Railway
Pre-groupingPortsmouth and Ryde Joint Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Passengers
2017/18Decrease 2.035 million
 Interchange Increase 0.144 million
2018/19Increase 2.101 million
 Interchange Increase 0.188 million
2019/20Decrease 2.036 million
 Interchange Decrease 0.121 million
2020/21Decrease 0.540 million
 Interchange Decrease 14,576
2021/22Increase 1.455 million
 Interchange Increase 41,024
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

A 1910 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Portsmouth Harbour (lower left centre)

The station opened on the 2nd October 1876[2] as the terminus of Chief Engineers Frederick Banister's Portsmouth Waterside Extension to the Portsmouth Direct Line, which runs between this station and London Waterloo station.[3] The construction of the station superseded an earlier pier on the site called the Albert Pier that was used for passenger steamships in the mid-Victorian era.[2]

The station was rebuilt in 1937 when the route was electrified but was almost totally destroyed during World War II by fire after German bombing, then rebuilt after the war.

A short branch line built on piles used to connect the station to the neighbouring dockyard, but this was taken out of service when a German bomb damaged the swing bridge in 1941.

Accidents and incidents

Services

Railways in the Portsmouth area
Portchester
Havant
Bedhampton
Cosham
Farlington Halt
HMNB Portsmouth
Admiralty Line
Hilsea
Portsmouth & Southsea
Fratton
Portsmouth Harbour
Southsea Railway 1885–1914
Jessie Road Bridge Halt
Albert Road Bridge Halt
East Southsea

The station is served by a number of train operators. South Western Railway operate two services to London Waterloo, one on the Portsmouth Direct Line (via Guildford) and the other via Fareham, Winchester and Basingstoke. They also operate local trains to Southampton Central.

There are train services along the West Coastway route, operated by Southern to Brighton, Littlehampton, Gatwick Airport, East Croydon and London Victoria. Great Western Railway operate trains via Southampton, Salisbury and Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central, via the Wessex Main Line.

The ferry from Portsmouth Harbour Station to Ryde on the Isle of Wight is operated by Wightlink. National Rail tickets between the Isle of Wight and stations on Great Britain include travel on the ferry.

The Monday-Saturday off peak rail service in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd) is as follows:

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Portsmouth & Southsea   South Western Railway
Portsmouth Direct Line
  Terminus
  Southern
West Coastway Line
 
  Great Western Railway
West Coastway Line
 
"boat icon" Ferry services
Terminus   Wightlink
ferry
  Fishbourne
Terminus   Wightlink
high-speed catamaran
  Ryde Pier Head
Terminus   Gosport Ferry
Passenger ferry
  Gosport
Connection to Portsmouth International Port for Brittany Ferries to France/Spain and Condor Ferries to the Channel Islands

Former services

The station was served by Virgin CrossCountry until May 2003 with services to and from Liverpool and Manchester with InterCity 125 sets and in its last years, Class 220 Voyagers and Class 221 Super Voyagers.[8]

The station was also served by Wessex Trains with one train a day to and from Penzance, as well as the services that are now run by its successor Great Western Railway.

Future

Portsmouth Harbour railway station and the Hard Interchange

With the award of the South West Region franchise to South Western Railway in 2017, Portsmouth City Council announced the intention to "spruce up" the station as part of a £90 Million investment by the new operating company. Potential improvements could include a direct walking route in to the Gunwharf Quays shopping complex.[9]

References

  1. "From Platform 0 to Platform 9¾: The strange world of British Rail mathematics" Jefferson, Ed; City Metric website article 3 August 2016; Retrieved 23 May 2019
  2. Easdown, Martin; Safe, Linda (2011). Piers of Hampshire & the Isle of Wight. Amberley Publishing. p. 186. ISBN 9781445623832.
  3. "Portsmouth Waterside Extension Railway". Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 7 April 2006.
  4. Bishop, Bill (1988). Off the rails. London: Bracken Books. p. 13. ISBN 1-85170-2083.
  5. Table 186 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  6. Table 123 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  7. Table 158 & 165 National Rail timetable, May 2019
  8. Virgin Train's Pompey pull-out Rail issue 462 28 May 2003 page 14
  9. "Portsmouth Harbour railway station targeted for improvements as part of £90m package". Portsmouth.co.uk. Portsmouth News. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.

50.79714°N 1.107044°W / 50.79714; -1.107044

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