Rowlands Castle railway station
Rowlands Castle railway station serves the village of Rowland's Castle, Hampshire, England. It is located on the Portsmouth Direct Line, 63 miles 18 chains (101.8 km) down the line from London Waterloo via Woking.[1]
Rowlands Castle  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Rowland's Castle, East Hampshire England |
| Coordinates | 50°53′31″N 0°57′25″W |
| Grid reference | SU734108 |
| Managed by | South Western Railway |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Station code | RLN |
| Classification | DfT category E |
| History | |
| Opened | 1 January 1859 |
| Passengers | |
| 2015/16 |  0.120 million |
| 2016/17 |  0.120 million |
| 2017/18 | 0.126 million |
| 2018/19 | 0.131 million |
| 2019/20 |  0.124 million |
| Notes | |
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road | |
The main station building, dating to 1859, was designed by Sir W Tate and is Grade II listed.[2] The station has two tracks, and two platforms, and the standard service is hourly to both Portsmouth and Waterloo.
The station was once one of three between Petersfield and Havant, but is the only one to have enjoyed a regular service. Havant New, to the south, was a temporary station built during an inter-company dispute - the Battle of Havant; Woodcroft Halt, to the north, was open for a few years round World War 2, mainly for service personnel.
Formerly there were goods and coal sidings trailing off the Up Line at the Petersfield end of the station. There was only one crossover between the two running lines, which meant that goods trains that arrived from the Petersfield direction (usually on the 0450 Goods Woking to Rowland's Castle) had to "set-back" into the headshunt and "fly shunt" (i.e. run off) wagons into the sidings rather than propelling them. This was a skilled movement and not normally permitted by the Rule Book. There was also a siding trailing off the up line, Havant side of the station, serving a brickworks adjacent to the remains of the Castle.
The station is staffed from 6:30 - 9:30 in the morning. At all other times, people are served by ticket machines.
Services
As of May 2019, the current off-peak service in trains per hour is:
- 1 tph to London Waterloo via Guildford
- 1 tph to Portsmouth & Southsea (all stations)
| Preceding station | National Rail |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petersfield | South Western Railway Portsmouth Direct Line |
Havant | ||
| Historical railways | ||||
| Woodcroft Halt Line open, station closed |
Southern Railway Portsmouth Direct Line |
Havant Line and station open | ||
Gallery
A 1910 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Rowlands Castle railway station
References
- Yonge, John (November 2008) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 26B. ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3.
- Historic England (12 March 1986). "Station (Grade II) (1179151)". National Heritage List for England.
External links
- Train times and station information for Rowlands Castle railway station from National Rail