Aldershot railway station

Aldershot railway station is located near the town centre of Aldershot in Hampshire, England. It is 35 miles (56 km) down the line from London Waterloo. It is on the Alton Line, part of the National Rail network, with train services and station facilities provided by South Western Railway.

Aldershot
Aldershot railway station
Location
PlaceAldershot
Local authorityRushmoor
Grid referenceSU866504
Operations
Station codeAHT
Managed bySouth Western Railway
Number of platforms3
DfT categoryC2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 1.434 million
– Interchange  0.141 million
2015/16 1.465 million
– Interchange  0.139 million
2016/17 1.438 million
– Interchange  0.139 million
2017/18 1.395 million
– Interchange  0.131 million
2018/19 1.367 million
– Interchange  0.122 million
History
Key datesOpened 2 May 1870[1] (2 May 1870[2])
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Aldershot from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

It has the three-letter code AHT. The station's National Location Code (NLC) is 5623.

History

The London and South Western Railway opened the station in 1870. It became part of the Southern Railway in the 1923 Grouping. The station then passed to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

Network SouthEast operated and served the station after British Rail Sectorised itself in 1982. South West Trains has operated and served the station since the Privatisation of British Railways in 1996.

Services

Train destinations are normally London Waterloo, Alton, Guildford, Farnham and Ascot.

Trains are usually routed to London Waterloo via Woking with three services in the morning peak scheduled to go the longer slower route via Ascot (included as part of the normal Aldershot to Ascot service) and two returning via this route in the evening.[3]

The typical off-peak service (Monday to Saturday) from the station is:

  • 2 trains per hour to London Waterloo,
  • 2 trains per hour to Alton,
  • 2 trains per hour to Guildford,
  • 2 trains per hour to Ascot (Berkshire)
  • 2 trains per hour to Farnham.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Ash Vale or Ash   South Western Railway
Alton Line		   Farnham
  South Western Railway
Ascot to Guildford line		   Reversal

Ticket machines
New ticket vending machine.

There are 2 new TicketXpress ticket vending machines which now reside outside the entrance to the booking hall, making them accessible when the station booking hall is closed. They are available at all times, except when remotely disabled when there is no service, such as at Christmas. These new machines sell tickets to many stations in Great Britain and accept major credit and debit cards.

The QuickFare self-service ticket machine (removed October 2006) accepted coins and banknotes and issued tickets to a variety of local destinations, as well as issuing tickets for the station car park. Discounts were available for holders of most Railcards. QuickFare ticket machines were used by British Rail and the Train Companies for many years, providing easy access to tickets at unstaffed stations and at times when ticket offices were closed.

The QuickFare ticket machine at Aldershot station was inside the booking hall on platform one. The place where it once stood is now occupied by the "scu" (the control centre that operates the new gateline).

Rolling stock

Services are mainly run using a four, eight or twelve car Class 450 and 2 cycles can be carried per train. Class 444 Desiro five-car units are seen from time to time.

Up to 2005, ex-British Rail slam-door EMUs were used on the Alton Line, many of which were berthed at the carriage sidings south of Farnham station. The carriage shed at Farnham was built in 1937 around the time that the line was electrified.

The most commonly operated EMUs in recent years were Class 411, Class 421 and Class 423 units. These trains were withdrawn in 2005, except for a very few that were transferred to the Lymington Branch.

Platforms
Aldershot railway station, showing (from left to right) platforms 3, 2 and 1

The station has three platforms. The station entrance and ticket office is by Platform 1. Tracks by Platforms 2 and 3 are signalled for bi-directional operation.

Platforms 2 and 3 are reached by way of the original subway and a more recent covered footbridge. Lifts are incorporated into the footbridge for disabled access.

Local Features

As trains approach Farnham to the south, the mileage suddenly jumps to a higher one. This is because mileages between the site of Farnham Junction (by the electric substation just before the A31 flyover bridge) and 6 (the end of the line that formerly continued to Winchester) are reckoned from London Waterloo via Guildford and the now closed line via Ash Green and Tongham. The line from Waterloo via Ash Vale and Aldershot was built significantly later than that via Guildford and Ash Green.

About 450m north-east of the station (towards Ash and can be seen from near the end of platform 1) is Aldershot Railway Tunnel, also known as Redan Hill Tunnel. It is 76 yards long.

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References
  1. Old Hampshire Gazetteer
  2. Old Hampshire Gazetteer
  3. GB eNRT 2015-16 Edition, Tables 149 & 155

Sources
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Station on navigable Ordnance Survey map
  • List of Railway Tunnels

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