Portsmouth & Southsea railway station

Portsmouth & Southsea railway station is the main railway station in central Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. It is close to the Commercial Road shopping centre. British Transport Police maintain a presence at the station. There is a taxi rank at the front of the building and regular local buses within five minutes' walking distance.

Portsmouth & Southsea
Location
Place	Portsmouth
Local authority	Portsmouth
Grid reference	SU641002
Operations
Station code	PMS
Managed by	South Western Railway
Number of platforms	4
DfT category	C1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15	2.156 million
2015/16	2.114 million
2016/17	2.012 million
2017/18	1.990 million
– Interchange	23,985
2018/19	2.053 million
– Interchange	25,817
History
Original company	London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
Pre-grouping	Portsmouth and Ryde Joint Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
14 June 1847	Opened (Portsmouth)
2 October 1876	Renamed (Portsmouth Town)
1925	Renamed (Portsmouth & Southsea)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Portsmouth & Southsea from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

The station, which is managed by South Western Railway, has ticket barriers in operation.

History

Aerial view of the station in 1946

View of the west end of platforms 2 (left) and 1 (right)

View of the 1980s British Rail era canopy over upper level platforms 1 & 2

View of the surviving Admiralty Line level crossing gates on Edinburgh Road close to Victoria Park.

The station was first opened as Portsmouth on 14 June 1847.[1] It was later renamed Portsmouth Town on 2 October 1876[1] to avoid confusion with other stations in Portsmouth, such as Portsmouth Harbour.

The station's present-day name of Portsmouth & Southsea originates from the closure of the Southsea Railway branch line, which had a terminus station in Southsea named East Southsea from 1885-1914. Competing trams and trolleybuses put the Southsea Railway out of business and it was closed in 1914. Train passengers and tourists bound for Southsea were then diverted to Portsmouth's main railway station, Portsmouth Town which was later renamed Portsmouth & Southsea in 1925.[1]

Portsmouth & Southsea station was once the junction for the Portsmouth Dockyard branch, known as the Admiralty Line. The line branched off from the west end of today's platform 1 and passed through Victoria Park, close to the rear of Stanhope Road, before crossing Bishop Crispian Way via a level crossing (the gates still exist) and entering the naval base at the Unicorn Gate.

Part of the station, specifically the 1980s canopy over high level platforms 1 and 2, is still in its original red Network SouthEast livery.

Services

The station is located on the Portsmouth Direct Line which runs between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour. In addition there are regular services to Cardiff Central, Bristol Temple Meads, Southampton Central, Eastleigh, Woking, Brighton, Gatwick Airport, East Croydon and London Victoria. The station is split into two distinct parts: the high level (one island platform for through trains) and the low level (two bay platforms) where some trains terminate. In addition, Hovertravel run a bus service from Portsmouth & Southsea which connects to their Hovercraft service from Southsea to the Isle of Wight. The IoW terminal is located next to Ryde Esplanade, with a single price ticket for journeys via rail/hover/rail, similar to that provided by Wightlink from Portsmouth Harbour.

The Monday-Saturday off-peak service is:

South Western Railway:

• 3 tph to London Waterloo via Guildford (2 fast, 1 stopping)
• 1 tph to London Waterloo via Basingstoke
• 3 tph to Portsmouth Harbour
• 1 tph to Southampton Central

Southern:

• 1 tph to London Victoria via Horsham
• 1 tph to Littlehampton
• 1 tph to Brighton
• 2 tph to Portsmouth Harbour

Great Western Railway:

• 1 tph to Cardiff Central via Bristol Temple Meads
• 1tph to Portsmouth Harbour

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Fratton		South Western Railway Portsmouth Direct Line		Portsmouth Harbour or Terminus
		Southern West Coastway Line
		Great Western Railway West Coastway Line
	Hovercraft services
Terminus		Hovertravel Hovercraft		Ryde Esplanade via Hoverbus

References

Railways in the Portsmouth area
Portsmouth Direct Line to London Waterloo via Guildford West Coastway Line to Brighton & London Victoria West Coastway Line to Southampton Central Portchester Havant M27 Bedhampton Cosham A3(M) Farlington Halt A27 Portsbridge Creek HMNB Portsmouth Admiralty Line Hilsea Portsmouth & Southsea Fratton Portsmouth Harbour Southsea Railway 1885–1914 Gosport Ferry to Gosport Wightlink to Ryde Pier Head Jessie Road Bridge Halt Albert Road Bridge Halt East Southsea

1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 190. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Train times and station information for Portsmouth & Southsea railway station from National Rail