Holton Heath railway station

Holton Heath railway station serves the area of Holton Heath in Wareham St Martin, Dorset, England. It is 118 miles 61 chains (191.1 km) down the line from London Waterloo.

Holton Heath
Location
Place	Wareham St Martin
Local authority	Dorset Council
Grid reference	SY945901
Operations
Station code	HOL
Managed by	South Western Railway
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	37,316
2015/16	30,760
2016/17	26,960
2017/18	30,186
2018/19	28,368
History
Pre-grouping	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
3 April 1916	opened for Admiralty staff use
14 July 1924	opened to public
National Rail – UK railway stations
Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Holton Heath from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

It was opened to serve the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath during the First World War. The station did not open to the public until 1924.

History

Holton Heath has been unstaffed since 1964, with the signal box removed on 3 November 1969. On 20 April 1989 a fatal accident occurred just beyond the siding on the London side of the station, when a light locomotive, which had just completed shunting duties at Winfrith nuclear power station, collided with the rear of a freight train. The driver of the light locomotive, Clive Brooker, died in the accident.[1]

Description

The platforms are able to accommodate trains of up to five coaches. The station is one of the few remaining on the line not to be equipped with a self-service ticket machine, only a Permit to Travel machine, located on platform 1.

Services

The station is served hourly by London to Weymouth semi-fast trains during the day. This replaced the now-defunct hourly Wareham to Brockenhurst service in 2008. There are no services in the evening (after 20.00) or on Sundays.[2]

Until 1967, trains through the station were normally steam hauled. Between 1967 and 1988, passenger services were normally provided by Class 33/1 diesel locomotives with Class 438 coaching stock (also known as 4-TC units). The line was electrified in 1988, using the standard British Rail Southern Region direct current third rail at 750 volts. Class 442 electric multiple units were initially used following electrification, until being displaced by new Class 444 electric multiple units in 2007.

References

1. "Accident at Holton Heath on 20th April 1989 :: The Railways Archive". www.railwaysarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
2. Table 158 National Rail timetable, May 2016

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Hamworthy		South Western Railway South Western Main Line		Wareham