Swanwick railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Swanwick
Location
Place Park Gate
Local authority Fareham (borough)
Operations
Station code SNW
Managed by South West Trains
Platforms in use 2
Live departures and station information from National Rail
Annual Passenger Usage
2004/05 ** 0.377 million
National Rail - UK railway stations

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z  

Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Swanwick (source)
Portal:Swanwick railway station
UK Rail Portal

Swanwick railway station is a railway station serving the village of Swanwick (pronounced Swan-ick) in Hampshire, England. Despite the name, it lies within the boundaries of Park Gate and not Swanwick.

The station is located near an industrial estate and a large residential area and can get very busy during peak hours. However it is normally deserted at other times.

Local history of the area explains the exceptional length of the platforms on the station. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the region around swanwick was the primary source of strawberries for the whole of the UK. This meant that in the summer larger trains were required to remove the large volumes of fruit from the station, hence the long platforms. After the Second World War the station's use became mainly for passenger services, this was due to the expansion of the importing of foreign fruits from Spain and South America. The availability of large aircraft which had been used for bombers during the second world war, made importing of higher quality strawberries more profitable. The strawberry heritage can still be seen in local landmarks such as strawberry fields on Warsash shore and also the Swanwick basket factory, which made the famous Hampshire gallon punnets in which the strawberries were stored.

The station is served by 2 services, the Portsmouth & Southsea to Southampton Central stopping service run by South West Trains, and the London Victoria to Southampton Central service run by Southern. After this train stops here it will then continue non-stop to Southampton Central

[edit] External links


Preceding station National Rail Following station
Fareham   Southern
Mondays-Saturdays only
  Southampton Central
Fareham   South West Trains   Bursledon