Could Boscombe Railway Station reopen? Here's the latest

The station closed in 1965 two years after a recommendation to shut it in the Beeching Report.

The site is located near Pokesdown Railway Station and no formal plans to reinstate it have been announced.

However, Network Rail has moved to ensure site access can be maintained given there are "aspirations to re-open" Boscombe Railway Station.

Boscombe Railway Station in 1964

Responding to an application by Travis Perkins to develop the former coal yard site in Ashley Road into a builders' merchant, Network Rail town planning technician Nick Donoghue wrote that the existing easement – access – is "maintained to ensure that any development of the site does not prejudice the re-instatement of a platform and a station in this location".

Network Rail spokesman Chris Denham said: "One of Network Rail’s important jobs is acting as a custodian of the railway network and making sure sites such as the former Boscombe station are protected in case there is a need to put in new infrastructure.

"That’s the reason we’ve made sure the “easement” – or site access – is retained within these plans."

Mr Denham said the former station site at Boscombe is around 700 metres from the end of Pokesdown Railway Station.

Boscombe Railway Station in 1968

He said BCP Council, Network Rail and South Western Railway are investing £5.7million in improvements at Pokesdown, including new lifts at the station.

"Neither we nor SWR have any plans to put a new station in so close to the existing one, and we think that investing in the current station is the right thing to do for customers," said Mr Denham.

"That said, predicting the future isn’t an exact science and by protecting this access we’re keeping that option open.”

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood told the Daily Echo he was not sure about the prospect of bringing back the old site given it would require a substantial amount of work and investment.

"It’s an interesting one though, certainly for the football club and how travel could help there," said Mr Ellwood.

Read more: 

• New bid to re-open historic Boscombe Railway Station
• More lost and abandoned railway stations of Dorset
• The lost and abandoned railway stations of Dorset

“But after the battle we’ve had to get Pokesdown station work over the line, to then have a completely new set up in Boscombe – we’re talking years down the line.

“In the long term it is certainly interesting. But in the short term I think the question is should we be focusing on Boscombe? Pokesdown is the priority for me at present but this should all one day be part of a local light railway network.

“An inter-city train if you like, a local network that feeds Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole with intermediate stops in places like Pokesdown and Boscombe. But again, for now, Pokesdown is the priority.”

Travis Perkins's builders' merchant plans for Ashley Road are due to go before BCP Council's planning committee on Thursday, February 17, with a local authority officer recommending approval.