Broadstone Railway Station (Dorset)
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1872, as part of the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, the station was the junction for the new line into Poole that superseded the old station at Lower Hamworthy.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, running through the Corfe Mullen station and the hamlet of Ashington, in order to avoid the need to reverse in Wimborne and Broadstone became the meeting point of two lines. However, the construction of further cutoffs to improve access to Bournemouth reduced its importance.
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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 |
- ^ "Current activity – Wimborne and East Dorset Railways". Retrieved 30 August 2024.
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)
External links
- Broadstone station on navigable 1946 O. S. map
- Station picture on Broadstone.net
- Broadstone station on Subterranea Britannica