New Milton railway station

New Milton railway station is a railway station serving the town of New Milton in Hampshire, England. The station also serves nearby places including Milford on Sea, Bashley, Ashley, Hordle and Barton on Sea.

History

The station was built in 1886 as part of the Brockenhurst to Christchurch Branch Railway which opened to traffic in 1888. It was operated by the London and South Western Railway from 1888 to 1923, by the Southern Railway from 1923 to 1948 and by British Railways from 1948, and from 1982 as part of the Network South East region. Since privatisation in 1996 it has been operated by Stagecoach Group as the South West Trains Franchise.^[1]

When it was built there was some discussion on what to call the new station. Milton was suggested, as the closest place, but was discounted as there are a number of places in England with that name. Barton, a short distance away, was also suggested but was decided against for the same reason. It was not until the sub-postmistress set up the sub Post office across the road and called it New Milton Sub Post Office that the current name was decided upon.^[2]

Services

Services that call here are: Weymouth semi-fast service, the Poole stopping service and trains to London Waterloo via Southampton and Basingstoke.

The station is able to accommodate trains of up to five coaches, longer trains only open the doors in the first 5 or 4 coaches depending on the type of unit operating the service.

The station is equipped with toilets, a waiting room, bicycle lockers, electronic passenger information screens, a ticket office as well as ticket machines, and has a large pay-and-display car park with 73 spaces for commuters.

References