Alton railway station

This article is about the railway station in Hampshire. For other uses, see Alton#In transportation.

Alton
Location
Place	Alton
Local authority	East Hampshire
Grid reference	SU723397
Operations
Station code	AON
Managed by	South West Trains
Number of platforms	3
DfT category	C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	0.480 million
2005/06	0.498 million
2006/07	0.548 million
2007/08	0.626 million
2008/09	0.651 million
2009/10	0.707 million
2010/11	0.720 million
2011/12	0.717 million
2012/13	0.721 million
2013/14	0.697 million
2014/15	0.744 million
History
28 July 1852	Station opens
2 October 1865	Station moved to adjacent site
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Alton from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Basingstoke & Alton Light Railway
Legend
South Western Main Line Basingstoke South Western Main Line Thornycroft sidings x20px Cliddesden Herriard x20px Bentworth and Lasham Alton Park (private platform) Treloar's Hospital siding Alton Line Alton Butts Junction Mid Hants Railway Meon Valley Railway

File:Alton railway station geograph-2648181-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg

Local train to Winchester in 1955

File:Alton with last Meon Valley train geograph-2658945-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg

Last Meon Valley train in 1955

Alton railway station is a railway station in the 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 onto 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 which is to the north east. The line was single-tracked as far as Farnham by British Rail in the early 1980s.

Platforms

There are three platforms in use. South West Trains use platforms one and two, connected by a footbridge. Platform three is used by the Mid Hants Watercress Railway.

History

The first station opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1852 was sited on what is now the station car park. It closed when the present station opened in 1865. The London & South Western Railway 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.

Services

Monday to Saturdays there is a half-hourly service to London Waterloo and an hourly service on Sundays, increasing to half-hourly from approximately 1330.

Services are usually operated by Class 450 Desiro units or Class 444 units.

References

• Body, G. (1984), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Southern Region, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Cambridge. ISBN 0-85059-664-5

External links

• Map sources for Alton railway station

• Train times and station information for Alton railway station from National Rail
• Station on navigable O.S. map

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Bentley or Farnham		South West Trains Alton Line		Terminus
	Heritage railways
Terminus		Mid Hants Watercress Railway		Medstead & Four Marks
	Disused railways
Treloar's Hospital Platform Line and station closed		London and South Western Railway Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway		Terminus
Terminus		British Rail Southern Region Meon Valley Railway		Farringdon Platform