Farnborough (Main) railway station

Farnborough (Main) railway station is on the South West Main Line and serves the town of Farnborough in Hampshire, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by South Western Railway.

Farnborough (Main)
The station entrance
General information
Location	Farnborough, Borough of Rushmoor England
Grid reference	SU868560
Managed by	South Western Railway
Platforms	2
Tracks	4
Other information
Station code	FNB
Classification	DfT category C2
History
Opened	24 September 1838; 185 years ago (1838-09-24)
Passengers
2018/19	3.112 million
Interchange	10,428
2019/20	2.760 million
Interchange	9,728
2020/21	0.567 million
Interchange	1,401
2021/22	1.514 million
Interchange	4,498
2022/23	1.940 million
Interchange	5,162
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

It is one of three stations in the town; the others, Farnborough North and North Camp, are both situated on the North Downs Line. The station is usually known as Farnborough (Main) in order to distinguish it from Farnborough North, including by National Rail^[1] and South Western Railway,^[2] although it is often signposted simply as Farnborough.

The station is located 33 miles 17 chains (53.5 km) from London Waterloo^{[note 1]} and is situated between Brookwood and Fleet.

History

Farnborough railway station was opened in 1838 by the London and South Western Railway (then the London and Southampton Railway), on the line from London to Winchfield (then Shapley Heath).^[3] The next year, the line was extended to Basingstoke, then the next year it was connected to Southampton.^[3] Throughout its life, Farnborough has been a through station.

In 1849, South Eastern Railway built the North Downs Line, and opened a station also known as Farnborough, but it was not renamed as its existing name Farnborough North until 1923. The main line railway station was often known as Farnborough (Main) and this has become its official name. It is referred to as simply 'Farnborough' on platform and road signs, but National Rail and South Western Railway officially use the suffix^[1][2] (though not on timetables). It was sometimes advertised as 'Farnborough for Aldershot' at an early stage.

As with Hook and Winchfield, there is a wide gap between the tracks. Originally, an island platform stood between them. When the railway was quadrupled, the existing 'up' (London-bound) track became the 'down' (Southampton-bound) fast. The former 'up' platform, an island which had a loop line running behind it was demolished with the loop line becoming the 'up fast'. The new 'up slow' line and a new platform for 'up' services were built at this time (early 1900s).^{[citation needed][jargon]}

One source suggests that it^{[clarification needed]} may have been used by Queen Victoria to get to Windsor Castle, though the main station she used for Windsor was Slough until Windsor got its own station.^[3]

In 2011, the forecourt underwent refurbishment to add two lifts to the platforms plus a new transport interchange complete with taxi rank, three new bus stops and a large bicycle shelter. In 2012, the station booking hall underwent an extensive refurbishment and the booking hall was modernised and enlarged as a result. Furthermore, a double level car park was built in the station during 2014, which has greatly increased car parking capacity at the station.

Accidents and incidents

• On 26 November 1947, a passenger train was in a rear-end collision with another, hauled by SR Lord Nelson Class 4-6-0 No. 860 Lord Hawke, due to a signalman's error. Two people were killed.^[4]
• On 5 April 2016, the "country" side waiting room was targeted by arsonists, causing damage to the interior and attempting to set fire to the ticket office.^[5]

Services

South Western Railway operate all services at Farnborough (Main) station. The typical off-peak service per hour is:^[6]

• Two trains each way between Basingstoke and London Waterloo;
• One train each way between Portsmouth Harbour and London Waterloo.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Brookwood		South Western Railway London-Basingstoke services		Fleet
Woking		South Western Railway London-Portsmouth via Winchester services		Basingstoke
Clapham Junction		South Western Railway London-Poole services		Fleet
	Historical railways
Woking		Anglia Railways London Crosslink		Basingstoke

51°17′49″N 0°45′22″W

Facilities

The station has three coffee shops, a waiting room on each platform, a ticket office, self-service ticket machines, smartcard travel facilities and bicycle parking facilities.^[1]

Notes

1. Railways in the United Kingdom historically are measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to one mile.

References

1. "Station Facilities for Farnborough (Main)". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
2. "Farnborough (Main) – Train Station Information". South Western Railway. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
3. Tolley, Christopher (4 January 2001). "On The Main Line". Basingstoke's Railway History. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
4. Hoole, Ken (1982). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 3. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 38. ISBN 0-906899-05-2.
5. Rusk, Connie (4 April 2016). "Farnborough Main railway station 'arson attack' sees windows smashed and bins set on fire". SurreyLive. Reach.
6. "Timetables". South Western Railway. May 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.