Alton railway station serves the market town of Alton, in the English county of Hampshire. The station is the terminus for two railway lines: the Alton Line, which runs to Brookwood and on to London Waterloo, and the Mid Hants Watercress Railway which runs to Alresford. The latter once ran through to Winchester, but was closed to passengers in February 1973; it reopened as a heritage line in 1985. Two other routes, both now closed, also served the station: the Meon Valley line to Fareham and the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway. Services operate along the Alton Line to Brookwood and join the South West Main Line towards London Waterloo. The line was single-tracked as far as Farnham by British Rail in the early 1980s.

History

The first station, opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1852, was sited on what is now the station car park. It closed when the present station opened in 1865. The LSWR became part of the Southern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The line from Woking to Alton was electrified in 1937 and the station passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. When sectorisation was introduced in 1986, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Rail in 1997.

Location

Alton station is located in the local government district of East Hampshire. The station is nowhere near Alton Towers Resort, which is located in the rural village of Alton in Staffordshire, about 185 miles away. Many people trying to reach the resort have mistakenly travelled to this station. Historically, there could have been grounds for confusion; Alton Towers railway station, which closed in 1965, was called Alton before 1954. Local residents, who have encountered many people trying to find Alton Towers, have put up posters at the station containing directions from the station to the resort by train, with a journey time of approximately 4 hours and 46 minutes.

Facilities

There are three platforms in use. South Western Railway use platforms one and two, connected by a footbridge; platform three is used by the Mid Hants Railway. There is a ticket office which is open seven days a week, with a ticket machine beside the booking hall. There is a long line public address system providing automated announcements and digital information displays to offer train running details. A car park with 207 spaces is available for passengers.

Service

The standard off-peak service provides two trains per hour to London Waterloo. On Sundays, there is an hourly service, increasing to half-hourly from approximately 13:30. Services are operated by South Western Railway. Services are usually operated by Class 450 Desiro electric multiple units, although Class 444 and Class 458 EMUs are sometimes used.

Citations

Sources