Northam Railway Station (Southampton) - History

History

The London and Southampton Railway (L&SR) was opened in stages: most of the portion south of Winchester was opened on 10 June 1839, to a temporary terminus in Southampton at Northam Road; not long before the opening, on 4 June 1839, the L&SR was renamed the London and South Western Railway. This station was closed when the line was completed and the permanent Southampton Terminus was opened on 11 May 1840.

During construction of the line a dispute arose between the L&SR and the Northam Bridge Company (NBC), owners of the Northam Bridge, regarding the railway's crossing of the Northam Road, which connected the bridge with the centre of Southampton. The plans for the railway specified that there would be a level crossing; but the NBC requested that the Northam Road be carried over the railway on a bridge. The NBC began proceedings on 13 March 1839, and the L&SR took legal advice which recommended that the road bridge not be built, but even so the L&SR acceded to the NBC's demands and built the bridge over the railway.

Northam residents during the 1860s campaigned for a local intermediate station, the railway company London & South Western Railway did not think much of it as Northam would be only a short distance away from their main terminus, which would become known as Southampton Terminus, however a site was considered between, what is now, Mount Pleasant level crossing and the current South West Trains train depot, eventually the station was built on the south side of Northam Road bridge not far from where the temporary terminus once stood.

The new Northam station opened on 1 December 1872. The station was built by a company called Joseph Bull & Sons, who at the time had their own tramway system from their premises at Belvidere Wharf on the River Itchen to areas north of their location. They built Northam railway station and were also associated with much of the early railway construction in Southampton and near-by areas.

At the time, tickets could be bought only from the station: a passengers to Northam had to buy tickets to Southampton Terminus with Northam acting as a ticket platform. The station never needed any goods facilities or sidings due to its close proximity to Southampton Terminus which handled all the goods in Southampton.

Northam station was situated south of Northam junction to the line which now goes to Southampton Central and further west, back then it was called Southampton West, Northam served only trains to and from Southampton Terminus: the station offices on the up line to London were made out of wood and each platform could be accessed only by steps from Northam Road bridge, Northam also had a large 14 track wide but short in length engine shed, with enough room for 2 locos under cover opened in October 1840 but closed on 1 January 1903 soon as Eastleigh Railway depot opened.

When traffic was booming for both Northam and Southampton Terminus in the early 1900s, the bridge above was rebuilt in 1908 with just one entrance and a new footbridge being built.

Northam station closed on 5 September 1966. By the 1960s, with most traffic now passing through Southampton Central, business at Northam and Southampton Terminus were in decline and these stations were closed prior to electrification of the main line in 1967. The station was demolished in 1969 and no traces remain of it, however the up-line still goes through the station and is used for freight trains going to the docks. The down lines which ran through Northam are now connected to the nearby Siemens train care depot for South West Trains.