| Fratton | |
|---|---|
| Looking North-West | |
| Location | |
| Place | Fratton |
| Local authority | Portsmouth |
| Operations | |
| Station code | FTN |
| Managed by | South West Trains |
| Number of platforms | 3 |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries |
|
| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2004/05 * | 1.246 million |
| 2005/06 * | 1.289 million |
| 2006/07 * | 1.369 million |
| 2007/08 * | 1.465 million |
| 2008/09 * | 1.577 million |
| 2009/10 * | 1.486 million |
| History | |
| Original company | London, Brighton and South Coast Railway |
| Post-grouping | Southern Railway |
| 1 July 1885 | Opened (Fratton) |
| 4 July 1905 | Renamed (Fratton and Southsea) |
| 1 December 1921 | Renamed (Fratton) |
| 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 estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Fratton from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. | |
Fratton railway station is a railway station in Portsmouth, located near Fratton Park, the stadium of association football (soccer) club Portsmouth F.C..
It is located on the Portsmouth Direct Line which runs between London (London Waterloo) and Portsmouth (Portsmouth Harbour).
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The station includes a staffed ticket office, toilets, a light refreshment facility, car parking and a taxi rank. The three passenger platforms are connected via a footbridge. It is also the station referred to in the famous Portsmouth FC song: 'You'll never make the station'.
Normally, platforms 2 and 3 serve Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour, with platform 1 serving all other destinations. Platforms 2 and 3 are also signalled to allow northbound passenger departures.
The railway line through Fratton was planned by the Brighton and Chichester Railway as part of the Chichester to Portsmouth Branch Railway, approved in 1845.[1] The line was completed in 1847, the Brighton and Chichester railway merging with several other companies to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1846, who went on to operate the line. Fratton was once the junction for the Southsea Railway which closed in 1914.
The Portsmouth Area Resignalling project was instigated in late 2006, aiming to improve the flexibility of the track layout in the Fratton area. Platform 1 became the Up Main, Platform 3 became the Down Main with Platform 2 as a bidirectional through platform (although the main function of platform 2 is down line trains). Prior to the project, trains could not reverse south to north at Fratton in service.
The work, scheduled by Network Rail to take place between 23 December 2006 and 4 February 2007, was subject to a massive overrun. The works were first extended six weeks into mid-March 2007 but in late February it became obvious that there were major problems with the new equipment being installed by the contractor Siemens AG.[2]
Until 1 April 2007 there were only three trains per hour between Fratton and Portsmouth Harbour with the remaining services terminating at Fratton and passengers using a replacement bus service. After the 2 April 2007 there were five trains per hour running between Fratton and Portsmouth - three South West Trains services, one Southern service and one First Great Western service with some services still terminating at Fratton with passengers forced to change to continue their journey. The "six week project" was eventually completed in October 2007 - some ten months after it started.
A new footbridge is now operational, linking the island platform (platforms 2 and 3) with the Up Main platform (1). This has stairs and lifts to allow disabled users full access to all trains, with lifts designed for easy wheelchair use.
The London Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway jointly built a motive power depot at Fratton in 1891, replacing an earlier one at Portsmouth Town station. It was of the double roundhouse type. It came under the ownership of Southern Railway (Great Britain) in 1923 and British Railways in 1948. This building was badly damaged by bombs during the Second World War but repaired in 1948. It closed 2 November 1959, but the building continued to be used for stabling locomotives for several years. They were demolised in 1969.[3] Fratton Traction Maintenance Depot, operated by South West Trains now occupies part of the site.
Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland, S.K. Baker ISBN 0-86093-553-1
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilsea | Southern West Coastway Line |
Portsmouth & Southsea |
||
| Hilsea | South West Trains Portsmouth Direct Line (stopping services) |
Portsmouth & Southsea |
||
| Havant | South West Trains Portsmouth Direct Line |
Portsmouth & Southsea |
||
| Cosham | First Great Western West Coastway Line |
Portsmouth & Southsea |
||
| Havant | ||||
| Disused railways | ||||
| Terminus | Southsea Railway | Jessie Road Bridge Halt |
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