Boscombe railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Boscombe
gridref =


caption = The site of the station, October 2007.
manager = London and South Western Railway
owner = Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
locale = Boscombe
borough = Bournemouth, Dorset
platforms = 2
years = 1897
events = Opened
years2 = 4 October 1965
events2 = Closed

Boscombe railway station was a station in Bournemouth, now in the county of Dorset, England. It was opened in 1897 at which time the previous station with the name was renamed Pokesdown. The station served the Royal Victoria Hospital and the centre of Boscombe around the Royal Arcade. It was also the closest station to Dean Court, the home of the football club known during the station's life as Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic FC.The station had a goods yard which received traffic from a large area of Bournemouth, and a large coal depot with sidings. It also had substantial brick buildings which were demolished a few years after closure, for which it was recommended in the Beeching Report because of its proximity to Pokesdown station. (So close that the accompanying image has a distant view of Gloucester Road bridge, as does the article on Pokesdown). Closure took place, just before the electrification of the line through it, on 4 October 1965.

The Site Today

The area of the station yard is now occupied by a small industrial estate and the old coal yard awaits redevelopment. Trains pass on what is now known as the South Western Main Line, through the piles of gravel that are all that remain of the platforms. These can still be seen alongside the line from the bridge that carries the Ashley Road over the line just to the west of the site.

There have been calls for the re-opening of the station by the Dorset Area Rail Transport System [ [http://www.geocities.com/poole_la21/train.htm Dorset Area Rail Transport System] ] , as well as by the Bournemouth Liberal Democrats. [ [http://bournemouth-libdems.org.uk/resources/sites/82.165.40.25-433a5aa25b7005.57337137/Manifestos/Bournemouth+Liberal+Democrats+Council+Manifesto+2003-2007.pdf Bournemouth Liberal Democrats Manifesto] ] .

References

Further reading

*cite book|author=R.V.J.Butt, |title= The Directory of Railway Stations |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |year=1995 ISBN 1 85260 508 1