Beaulieu Road railway station is located at the point where the South Western Main Line

South Western Main Line

The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth...

 from London Waterloo

Waterloo station

Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....

 to Weymouth crosses the B3056 road from Beaulieu

Beaulieu, Hampshire

Beaulieu is a small village located on the south eastern edge of the New Forest national park in Hampshire, England and home to both Palace House and the British National Motor Museum.- History :...

 to Lyndhurst

Lyndhurst, Hampshire

Lyndhurst is a village and civil parish in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It is a popular tourist location with many independent shops, art galleries, cafés, restaurants, pubs and hotels. The nearest city is Southampton located around nine miles to the north-east...

 in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

History

Opened by the Southampton and Dorchester Railway

Southampton and Dorchester Railway

-Planning and Construction:The Southampton and Dorchester Railway, operating in the counties of Hampshire and Dorset, received Parliamentary Assent in 1845 and opened in 1847. The railway was promoted by a Wimborne solicitor, Charles Castleman...

 (S&DR) on 1 June 1847, the station was not originally intended to serve the village of Beaulieu, which lies some 3.5 miles (5.5 km) distant. The railway company were obliged to open it as a 'personal' station for Lord Montagu

Baron Montagu of Beaulieu

Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, in the County of Hampshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the Conservative politician Lord Henry Montagu Douglas Scott, who had earlier represented Selkirkshire and South Hampshire in the House of Commons...

, a concession to him for allowing the railway to be built over part of his Beaulieu Estate. A special signal would indicate to the train drivers that they should stop for Lord Montagu and his guests.

The station was closed by the London and South Western Railway

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

 (which had absorbed the S&DR in 1848) on 1 March 1860, and reopened on 1 November 1895.

Services

Nowadays the station is served by London Waterloo to Poole stopping services operated by South West Trains

South West Trains

South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...

. As of the December 2007 timetable, on Mondays to Fridays trains call only during the morning peak and late afternoon. From May 2008, a late morning service has also been added in each direction. On Saturdays there are five up and six down services. On Sundays, however, there is a better service, with trains to and from Poole calling hourly throughout the day.

Even on Sundays, however, services to and from Brockenhurst

Brockenhurst railway station

Brockenhurst railway station is a railway station serving the village of Brockenhurst in Hampshire, England. It is located on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth...

 are much more frequent than those to Beaulieu Road, and visitors to the New Forest

New Forest

The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....

 are likely to find the Brockenhurst trains more convenient.