Beaulieu Road
National Rail
Beaulieu Road platforms in 2020, facing south, with an up service bound for London Waterloo passing.
General information
LocationBeaulieu, District of New Forest
England
Coordinates50°51′16″N 1°30′17″W / 50.85444°N 1.50472°W / 50.85444; -1.50472
Grid referenceSU349062
Managed bySouth Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeBEU
ClassificationDfT category F2
History
Original companySouthampton and Dorchester Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and South Western Railway
Post-groupingSouthern Railway
Key dates
1 June 1847Opened
1 March 1860Closed
1 November 1895Reopened
Passengers
2018/19Increase 10,586
2019/20Increase 12,040
2020/21Decrease 4,038
2021/22Increase 11,832
2022/23Increase 15,446
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Beaulieu Road railway station is located at the point where the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth crosses the B3056 road from Beaulieu to Lyndhurst in Hampshire, England. It is 88 miles 6 chains (141.7 km) down the line from Waterloo. Beaulieu Road is the least-used station in Hampshire, according to the official passenger statistics.[1]

History

The station in 1963

Opened by the Southampton and Dorchester Railway (S&DR) on 1 June 1847, as it was the closest point to nearby Beaulieu and Hythe from the main line.

The station was closed by the London and South Western Railway (which had absorbed the S&DR in 1848[2]) on 1 March 1860, and reopened on 1 November 1895.[3] It was destaffed in the early 1960s.

Services

In 1981 (a timetable typical of the 1980s) the station was served by an hourly stopping service from London to Bournemouth on Mondays to Saturdays. At that time, in contrast to today, the station had no service on Sundays. [4]

Nowadays the station is served by London Waterloo to Poole stopping services operated by South Western Railway. As of the December 2007 timetable, on Mondays to Fridays trains call only during the morning peak and late afternoon. From May 2008, a late morning service has also been added in each direction. In 2013 there were down trains, towards Poole, every two or three hours on Monday to Friday, the last being 20:44, but only three up trains (08:08, 11:38 and 18:38). On Saturdays there were five up and six down services. On Sundays, however, there was a better service, with trains to and from Poole calling hourly throughout the day.

The May 2016 timetable is essentially the same as that of 2013, though an extra weekday London-bound departure has been added at 13:38.[5]

As of summer 2021 there is an hourly service on Sundays, two-hourly service on Saturdays, and approximately two-hourly Monday to Friday though with a gap in up services in the mid-afternoon between 13:37 and 17:38.[6]

Even on Sundays, however, services to and from Brockenhurst are much more frequent than those to Beaulieu Road.

The New Forest Tour summer open top bus service stops adjacent to Beaulieu Road.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Ashurst New Forest   South Western Railway
London-Weymouth
  Brockenhurst

Notes

  1. ^ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  2. ^ Awdry 1990, p. 198.
  3. ^ Butt 1995, p. 30.
  4. ^ "ABC November 1981 (Great Britain)". Timetable World. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  5. ^ Table 158 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  6. ^ Somerville, Matthew. "Accessible UK Train Timetables". traintimes.org.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2021.

References