Hanborough railway station

Hanborough National Rail
Location
Place Long Hanborough
Local authority West Oxfordshire
Grid reference SP433142
Operations
Station code HND
Managed by First Great Western
Number of platforms 1
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05 Increase 75,976
2005/06 Decrease 70,562
2006/07 Increase 76,580
2007/08 Increase 83,976
2008/09 Increase 105,290
2009/10 Decrease 104,050
2010/11 Increase 119,210
2011/12 Increase 136,454
2012/13 Increase 172,684
2013/14 Increase 201,284
History
Key dates Opened 4 June 1853
Original company Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Post-grouping GWR
1853 Opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Hanborough from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Hanborough railway station is a railway station serving the village of Long Hanborough in Oxfordshire, England. As a result of the Cotswold Line being singled the former up platform is the only one now in use for both up and down trains. It is served by First Great Western trains between Oxford and Worcester Shrub Hill.

There is a passenger-operated ticket machine (card payments only; not cash) at the entrance to the station platform.

The station has two car parks, which between them provide 241 car spaces. However, on most weekdays the number of passengers parking at Hanborough exceeds the number of spaces available.[1]

Oxford Bus Museum[2] is just east of the station, in the former goods yard.

History

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway opened the station on 4 June 1853, and it was originally named Handborough.[3] Between 1854 and 1861 it served as a junction for Oxford-bound passengers changing from through trains between Worcester and London Euston, for which role a refreshment room was provided.

On 30 January 1965, by which time the station boards read 'Handborough for Blenheim', it was the destination for the funeral train of Sir Winston Churchill hauled by Battle of Britain class locomotive No. 34051 Winston Churchill.[4][5][6] During his commentary on the funeral for BBC television, Richard Dimbleby mentioned that the station was scheduled for closure under the so-called "Beeching cuts",[7] although, in the event, that did not happen.

In January 1966 the station was de-staffed, after which the standard OW&WR wooden station building and goods shed were demolished.[8][9]

On 28 September 1992 the station was renamed Hanborough.[3]

Since 2005–06 the number of passengers using the station has almost trebled.[10] More than 250 passengers a day come by car, but the original car park had only 50 spaces and by 2011 it had been overwhelmed. In August 2011 First Great Western and a house-building company jointly proposed a new development on a green field site next to the station that would provide new homes and a new 191-space car park.[11] This was officially opened in July 2013,[12] by which time it was already more than half-full each weekday.[13] In November 2014 the Cotswold Line Promotion Group found 204 vehicles parked in the 191-space second car park and reported that it "was being used beyond capacity on most weekdays".[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oliver, Matt (1 December 2014). "Extended Hanborough station car park 'is already full'". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Oxford Bus Museum". Retrieved 28 April 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 113. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  4. ↑ "Sir Winston Churchill's Funeral Train". Southern E-Group. Retrieved 1 April 2007.
  5. ↑ Bird, John H. (January 2005). "Operation Hope Not". Steam World (211): 16–22.
  6. ↑ Leigh, Chris (June 1996). "A State Occasion". Steam World (108): 50–1.
  7. ↑ BBC1, 30 January 1965, repeated on BBC Parliament, 30 January 2014
  8. ↑ Jenkins, S.C.; Quayle, H.I. (1977). The Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway. Oakwood Press.
  9. ↑ Leigh, Chris (1981). GWR Country Stations. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1108-7.
  10. ↑ Office of the Rail Regulator data: see infobox at head of article.
  11. ↑ Crossley, William (10 August 2011). "Solution to parking problems?". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "£400,000 car park at Hanborough railway station gets official launch". Oxford Mail. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Elliott, Gordon (16 July 2013). "Hanborough station's car park is filling up fast". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 9 December 2014.

External links

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Combe
Charlbury on Saturdays and Sundays		   First Great Western
Cotswold Line		   Oxford

Coordinates: 51°49′30.7″N 1°22′20.68″W / 51.825194°N 1.3724111°W