Hook railway station

Hook National Rail

The station building seen from the westbound platform
Location
Place Hook
Local authority District of Hart
Grid reference SU725539
Operations
Station code HOK
Managed by South West Trains
Number of platforms 2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05  0.510 million
2005/06 Increase 0.517 million
2006/07 Increase 0.593 million
2007/08 Increase 0.617 million
2008/09 Increase 0.651 million
2009/10 Decrease 0.646 million
2010/11 Increase 0.673 million
2013/14 Increase 0.755 million
History
Key dates Opened 2 July 1883
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Hook from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Hook station serves the town of Hook and surrounding villages in Hampshire, southern England. There are two platforms serving the outer pair of tracks while the centre pair of tracks have no platforms and are used by fast services between the South Coast and the West Country. Platform One also has a small cafe.

Most services to and from this station terminate at either Basingstoke or London Waterloo and run every half hour during the weekday and every hour at the weekends.

The railway station is situated next to a Tesco superstore and is located within a 5-minute walk of Hook.

The eastbound platform at night

History

The railway that runs through Hook was built in 1839, but Hook only got its railway station in 1883 after a lengthy campaign by local landowners. It was built by London and South Western Railway in their typical style. It was built with two platforms and two tracks, but was expanded to four platforms and tracks in 1901-2 as Hook grew in size. The middle island platform was removed around the 1960s but its tracks still survive.

In 1940, a bomb landed on the tracks a little way from the station. Worried it could damage the tracks, six soldiers were called to dispose of the bomb. Unfortunately, the bomb went off killing the six soldiers and injuring their sergeant. A group of local people have arranged to have a memorial plaque to them displayed in the station.[1][2]

References

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Winchfield   South West Trains
South Western Main Line
  Basingstoke

Coordinates: 51°16′48″N 0°57′43″W / 51.280°N 0.962°W