Broadstone railway station (Dorset)

Broadstone was a railway station in the northern part of the Borough 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. 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.

Broadstone (Dorset)
The station in 1963
General information
Location	Broadstone, Poole England
Grid reference	SZ004959
Platforms	4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Southampton and Dorchester Railway
Pre-grouping	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
2 December 1872	Opened as 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

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1872, as part of the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, the station was the junction for the new line into Poole that superseded the old station at Lower Hamworthy.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, running through the Corfe Mullen station and the hamlet of Ashington, in order to avoid the need to reverse in Wimborne and Broadstone became the meeting point of two lines. However, the construction of further cutoffs to improve access to Bournemouth reduced its importance.

Broadstone (position on network)
Distances Times km h:min Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway 94.83 Bailey Gate 2:42 Ringwood Line Southampton and Dorchester Railway Wimborne 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 West Main Line Distances and times from Bath on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway

Decline and closure

The first line through Broadstone to close for passengers was the Old Road from Brockenhurst via Ringwood 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 Forum via a stub of the SDJR and one which passed through Wimborne to serve the RAOC fuel depot at West Moors. The Blandford Forum freight line closed and was lifted in 1969 . The goods traffic to Wimborne maintained a track running through the site until 1977 after which the track was lifted and the land sold for redevelopment.

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 Halt Line and station closed		Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway Dorset Central Railway		Corfe Mullen Halt Line and station closed
Creekmoor Halt Line and station closed		London and South Western Railway Southampton and Dorchester Railway		Wimborne Line and station closed
Hamworthy Junction Line closed, station open

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 links

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