Broadstone (Dorset) railway station

This article refers to the former station in Dorset, England. For the similarly named station in Ireland see Broadstone (Dublin) railway station.

Broadstone (Dorset)
The station in 1963
Location
Place	Broadstone
Area	Poole
Grid reference	SZ004959
Operations
Pre-grouping	Poole& B'th Rly LSWR
Post-grouping	Southern Railway Southern Region of British Railways
Platforms	4
History
2 December 1872	Opened (New Poole Junction)
January 1875	Renamed (Poole Junction)
July 1883	Renamed (Poole Junction & Broadstone)
January 1887	Renamed (Broadstone & New Poole Junction)
15 February 1889	Renamed (Broadstone Junction)
7 July 1929	Renamed (Broadstone (Dorset))
1956	Renamed (Broadstone)
7 March 1966	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Broadstone was a railway station in the northern part of the town of Poole in the county of Dorset in England. It opened in 1872 under the name of New Poole Junction and closed to passengers in 1966 and to goods in 1969. Between these dates there were several changes of name for a station which at its height provided a suburb of Poole with four substantial platforms and a goods yard. A prominent feature of the station was the large footbridge needed to span the four running lines.

Opened as New Poole Junction in 1872, as part of the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, the station was the junction for the new line into Poole that superseded the old station at Lower Hamworthy. When the line was extended to Bournemouth West Broadstone became the junction for the trains to the Bournemouth station. Then the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway constructed a cutoff line to avoid the need to reverse in Wimborne and Broadstone became the meeting point of two lines, although the construction of further cutoffs to improve access to Bournemouth reduced its importance.

Broadstone (position on network)

Legend Distances Times Km. Hrs/Mins Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway 94.83 Bailey Gate 2.42 Ringwood Line Southampton and Dorchester Railway Wimborne(Connecting station) 97.69 Corfe Mullen Halt 2.49 102.51 Broadstone 2.55 104.59 Creekmoor Halt 2.59 Hamworthy Junction Poole Quay and original ferry link Poole Original (now Hamworthy Goods Station) Current Cross Channel Ferry Port 108.03 Poole 3.03 South Western Main Line Distances and times from Bath on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway

Decline and closure

The first line through Broadstone to close was the Old Road from Ringwood, closed in 1964. The line to Hamworthy Junction was lifted in 1966. This same year, the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway lost its passenger services. This left Broadstone the junction of two goods lines, one to serve a goods depot at Blandford via a stub of the SDJR and one which passed through Wimborne to serve the RAOC fuel depot at West Moors. The Blandford freight line closed and was lifted in 1969 but the track to the oil depot kept tracks running through the site until policy changed to the use of road transport. The last track through Broadstone was lifted in 1977.

The site today

Today the site is occupied by Broadstone Leisure Centre, its car park and a traffic roundabout. A subway to Broadstone's shopping area passes under the roads where the railway bridge used to be. This, and the building of some houses on the old trackbed north of the station site, mean that the Castleman Trailway skirts the edge of the former site before regaining the old trackbed on the way to Wimborne.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Creekmoor Line and station closed		Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway LSWR and Midland Railways Line closed		Corfe Mullen Line and station closed
Hamworthy Junction		Southampton and Dorchester Railway London and South Western Railway Line closed		Wimborne Line and station closed

Further reading

• R.V.J.Butt, (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd.  ISBN 1-85260-508-1

• J.H. Lucking,. Railways of Dorset. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society 1968.  ISBN(no ISBN)

External references

• Broadstone station on navigable 1946 O. S. map
• Station picture on Broadstone.net
• Broadstone station on Subterranea Britannica