It is 47 miles 61 chains (76.9 km) down the line from London Waterloo, and 51 miles 39 chains (82.9 km) from London Paddington.[1]
History
The station was opened by the London and South Western Railway as a temporary terminus when its line to Southampton reached Basingstoke from London. It became a through station when the section running north from Southampton was completed later in 1840. The intention to build a line from near Basingstoke to Bristol was dropped when the Great Western Railway was approved.[2] The L&SWR did, however plan a line to Salisbury from Basingstoke but this was delayed by financial difficulties. Eventually, it was built reaching Andover in 1854 and Salisbury three years later, before being extended to become the West of England Main Line.[citation needed]
The Great Western Railway opened its broad gauge line from Reading on 1 November 1848 with a separate station north of the L&SWR station.[3] After its conversion to mixed gauge on 22 December 1856 through services could run between Southampton and Reading. The broad gauge rail was removed on 1 April 1869.[4]
The GWR station was closed on 1 January 1932[5] and demolished the same year. Since then trains from Reading have used the main station.[6]
Basingstoke station was the terminus of the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, opened in 1901 to prevent the GWR from building a line on this route towards Portsmouth. The line was never profitable. During the First World War some of the track was sold off. After the war the Southern Railway reopened the line, but it was closed finally in 1932.[citation needed]
In the 1980s Platform 5 was converted to a bay platform to permit an entrance on the northern side by British Rail. In 1993, an explosive device planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army was found in a toilet, soon after a bomb scare at Reading railway station.[7] In 2001 a suitcase was left outside the station containing the mutilated body of a man in his twenties. He had been stabbed to death.[8]
In 2012, improvements were made to the station, including a new stainless steel and glass frontage, an enlarged booking hall and a new waiting room on platforms 2 and 3.[11] In 2022, South Western Railway introduced staff members called "Welcome Hosts" at this station and some others to provide information and sell tickets.[12][13]
Platforms
The station has five platforms, four of which can be used bi-directionally. They are above street level and are accessed via stairs and lifts from the booking hall and subway.[14] There is a secondary entrance on Platform 4.
Platform 4: Northbound CrossCountry services to Reading, Birmingham and onwards to the north. A few trains to London Waterloo use this platform. Northbound freight trains also pass through here.
The station has two entrances. The main entrance to the south has access to a taxi rank, some car parks and a bus stop, with steps down to The Malls shopping centre. A bridge over Churchill Way leads to the bus station. Festival Place can be accessed from The Malls or the bus station, while Festival Square and the Top of Town are located beyond the bus station. The northern entrance on Platform 4 gives access to a car park.
The south booking hall has ticket facilities (including ticket machines), information and a small shop. The station is staffed all day, and both entrances have ticket barriers.
There is a small café on the central island platform and another on Platform 4, as well as indoor waiting rooms.
Signalling
The station area and its various routes have been controlled by colour light signalling since the mid-1960s. The 1966 panel box (which controlled the main line from west of Woking through to Micheldever and Andover along with part of the line to Reading) was located on the north side of the line to the east of the station, but this was superseded by a new facility in 2007 when the area was resignalled. It was announced in 2013 that a new Network Rail signalling operating centre would be built in Basingstoke; the contract was for £30 million. Twelve such regional control centres were to be built in the following 15 to 30 years, which will be responsible for all the signalling in the Wessex & South West England area (right through from London Waterloo to Weymouth, Portsmouth Harbour and Exeter).[16] Several routes have had their signal control moved to Basingstoke, including the West of England main line Salisbury to Exmouth Jn in 2012 [17] and the Poole - Wareham - Wool section of the line to Weymouth in 2015.
Incidents
On 19 December 2008 an over-height container on a freight train struck and damaged 140 yards (130 m) of the canopy of platform 1.[18] The train was stopped before it reached the tunnels north of Micheldever.
The London and South Western Railway opened a locomotive shed on the south side of the main line, to the west of the station in 1839. This was closed in 1909 to make way for station enlargement. It was replaced by a larger structure on the north side of the line. This was closed by British Railways in March 1963, but remained in use as a servicing point until the end of steam in July 1967. It was demolished in 1969.[19]
The Berks and Hants Railway opened a small shed to the east of the station on the north side of the line in 1850. This was closed by British Railways in November 1950, and demolished to make way for sidings.[19]
Services
The eastern end of bay platform 5, looking towards the junction
^ abGriffiths, Roger; Smith, Paul (1999). The directory of British engine Sheds and Principal Locomotive Servicing Points: 1. Oxford: Oxford Publishing Co. p. 48. ISBN0-86093-542-6.
