Basingstoke Station

Story

Basingstoke railway station, in the town of Basingstoke in the county of Hampshire in England, is on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo, with local and fast services operated by South Western Railway. It is the terminus of Great Western Railway local services on the Reading to Basingstoke Line. Long distance cross-country services operated by CrossCountry to from Birmingham (the Bournemouth to Birmingham route), Manchester and further north, join the main line from the branch there. The station is sponsored by AXA Winterthur Insurance, which is based in the town.HistoryThe station was opened by the London and South Western Railway as a temporary terminus when its line to Southampton reached Basingstoke from London. It became a through station when the section running north from Southampton was completed later in 1840. The intention to build a line from near Basingstoke to Bristol was dropped when the Great Western Railway was approved. The L&SWR did, however plan a line to Salisbury from Basingstoke but this was delayed by financial difficulties. Eventually, it was built reaching Andover in 1854 and Salisbury three years later, before being extended to become the West of England Main Line.