Portsmouth Harbour  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The station entrance (February 2014) | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Portsmouth,Hampshire, England | ||||
| Grid reference | SU629000 | ||||
| Managed by | South Western Railway | ||||
| Platforms | 5 (4 in use) | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Station code | PMH | ||||
| Classification | DfT category C1 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 2 October 1876 | ||||
| Original company | Portsmouth and Ryde Joint Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | Portsmouth and Ryde Joint Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | Southern Railway | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019/20 |  2.036 million | ||||
| Interchange | 0.121 million | ||||
| 2020/21 | 0.540 million | ||||
| Interchange | 14,576 | ||||
| 2021/22 |  1.455 million | ||||
| Interchange | 41,024 | ||||
| 2022/23 | 1.747 million | ||||
| Interchange | 12,920 | ||||
| 2023/24 | 1.776 million | ||||
| Interchange | 45,145 | ||||
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Portsmouth Harbour railway station serves the city ofPortsmouth, inHampshire,England. It is situated inPortsmouth Harbour, between theGunwharf Quays shopping centre and theHistoric Dockyard. It is an important transport terminal, witha bus interchange andferry services toGosport and theIsle of Wight. Unusually for a main line railway station, it is built over water as the station was originally constructed on wooden piles, which were later replaced by iron supports.[1]
The station opened on 2 October 1876[1] as the terminus of Chief EngineerFrederick Banister's Portsmouth Waterside Extension to thePortsmouth Direct line, which runs between this station andLondon Waterloo station.[2] The construction of the station superseded an earlier pier on the site called the Albert Pier that was used forpassenger steamships in the mid-Victorian era.[1]
The station was rebuilt in 1937 when the route was electrified but was almost totally destroyed duringWorld War II by fire after German bombing, then rebuilt after the war.
A short branch line built on piles used to connect the station to the neighbouring dockyard, but this was taken out of service when a German bomb damaged the swing bridge in 1941.
The station is owned byNetwork Rail and is managed bySouth Western Railway. It currently has four platforms in use: numbered 1, 3, 4 and 5. Platform 2 is no longer in use, having been decommissioned in the early 1990s following major repair and refurbishment work to the pier that the platforms sit on.[5]
The ticket office is located in the booking hall, at the entrance from the ferry terminal. It is open seven days a week, until 19:00. When closed, tickets must be bought prior to travel at the ticket machines or on-line. There are customer help points. The station has 38 bicycle spaces, but no car park.[6]
The station is served by a number of train operators.South Western Railway operate two services to London Waterloo, one on the Portsmouth Direct Line (viaGuildford) and the other viaFareham,Winchester andBasingstoke. They also operate local trains toSouthampton Central.
There are train services along theWest Coastway route, operated bySouthern toBrighton,Littlehampton,Gatwick Airport,East Croydon andLondon Victoria.Great Western Railway operate trains via Southampton,Salisbury andBristol Temple Meads toCardiff Central, via theWessex Main Line.
The ferry from Portsmouth Harbour Station toRyde on the Isle of Wight is operated byWightlink. National Rail tickets between the stations on the Isle of Wight (continuing on theIsland Line atRyde Pier Head) and stations on Great Britain include travel on the ferry.
The Monday-Saturday off peak rail service in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd) is as follows:
| Preceding station |  National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth & Southsea | South Western Railway Portsmouth Direct Line West Coastway line | Terminus | ||
| Southern West Coastway Line | ||||
| Great Western Railway West Coastway Line | ||||
 Ferry services | ||||
| Terminus | Wightlink Ferry | Fishbourne | ||
| Terminus | Wightlink High-speed catamaran | Ryde Pier Head | ||
| Terminus | Gosport Ferry Passenger ferry | Gosport | ||
| Connection toPortsmouth International Port forBrittany Ferries toFrance/Spain/Guernsey, andDFDS Seaways toJersey | ||||
The station was served byVirgin CrossCountry until May 2003 with services to and fromLiverpool andManchester withInterCity 125 sets and in its last years,Class 220Voyagers andClass 221Super Voyagers.[10]
The station was also served byWessex Trains with one train a day to and fromPenzance, as well as the services that are now run by its successorGreat Western Railway.
With the award of the South West Region franchise toSouth Western Railway in 2017,Portsmouth City Council announced the intention to "spruce up" the station as part of a £90 Million investment by the new operating company. Potential improvements could include a direct walking route in to the Gunwharf Quays shopping complex.[11]
50°47′50″N1°06′25″W / 50.79714°N 1.107044°W /50.79714; -1.107044
