Southampton Central train station
Southampton Central is a major interchange: 147 stations can be reached from here without changing on a weekday, more than almost anywhere else on the network. The most frequent is Southampton Airport Parkway, with 173 trains a day.
See Southampton Central on the map
Address: Blechynden Terrace, Southampton, SO15 1AL
Southampton Central is the nearest station for postcodes in SO14. Check your own postcode.
- 147 direct destinations
- 81st busiest in Britain
- Staffed full time
- Step-free throughout
- 198 parking spaces
- 8 bus stops nearby
Direct trains from Southampton Central
Trains a day to each station you can reach without changing, by day of the week.
| Destination | Weekday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southampton Airport Parkway | 173 | 175 | 118 |
| Fareham | 146 | 142 | 93 |
| Bournemouth | 139 | 128 | 85 |
| Brockenhurst | 134 | 128 | 85 |
| Winchester | 133 | 136 | 87 |
| Cosham | 131 | 135 | 86 |
| Romsey | 110 | 109 | 87 |
| Woolston | 106 | 105 | 34 |
| Swanwick | 105 | 105 | 66 |
| Portchester | 90 | 100 | 34 |
| St Denys | 88 | 79 | 66 |
| Basingstoke | 86 | 108 | 87 |
| Poole | 80 | 73 | 61 |
| Eastleigh | 78 | 84 | 67 |
| London Waterloo | 77 | 75 | 61 |
| Salisbury | 75 | 74 | 56 |
| Havant | 73 | 70 | 32 |
| Fratton | 72 | 72 | 61 |
| Christchurch | 71 | 69 | 34 |
| New Milton | 71 | 69 | 62 |
| Portsmouth and Southsea | 71 | 72 | 60 |
| Barnham | 69 | 68 | 32 |
| Chichester | 69 | 68 | 32 |
| Pokesdown | 69 | 69 | 34 |
| Ford | 67 | 66 | 31 |
| Emsworth | 66 | 67 | 31 |
| Southbourne | 66 | 64 | 0 |
| Angmering | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Brighton | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Hove | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Lancing | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Portslade | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Shoreham-by-Sea | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Southwick | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Worthing | 65 | 65 | 29 |
| Dorchester South | 62 | 63 | 30 |
| Hamworthy | 62 | 63 | 30 |
| Weymouth | 62 | 63 | 30 |
| Wareham | 62 | 63 | 30 |
| Branksome | 59 | 48 | 34 |
and 107 more stations, each served less often.
Lines serving Southampton Central
Southampton Central is on the South West Main Line. That page has the whole route, every station on it and how busy each one is.
Freight through Southampton Central station, hour by hour
Freight is booked through or alongside Southampton Central station on 539 paths in the week beginning 21 September 2026: 100 paths on the Wednesday, 57 paths on the Saturday and no paths on the Sunday. 63 of them run whatever the traffic; the rest are held in the timetable and used only when there is something to move. The busiest hour is 12:00 to 13:00 on the Thursday, with 11 paths booked.
The grid counts the goods trains booked to pass in each hour of the week beginning 21 September 2026: the darker the hour, the more paths, and a dot marks an hour with at least one path that runs regardless. Engineering trains, empty stock and light engines are not counted. Across Britain only about a fifth of booked freight paths run on a given day, so a booked path is a possibility rather than a promise; the freight statistics page explains how that is measured.
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Paths booked in the hournone12 to 34 to 78 to 1516 or moreone runs regardless
How busy Southampton Central station is
6,172,960 passenger entries and exits in 2024-25, making it the 81st busiest station in Great Britain.
A further 975,473 passengers changed trains here without entering or leaving the station.
More journeys run between Southampton Central and London Waterloo than any other pair: 1,000,182 a year. That is where passengers go, which is not always where the most trains go.
Source: Office of Rail and Road, Estimates of station usage, 2024-25. Estimated from ticket sales.
Sundays
Sunday is a different railway here: 109 stations instead of 147, a drop of about 26%. Saturday runs to 128.
Changing from 24 March 2027
From 24 March 2027, Southampton Central gains 10 destinations including Dunbar, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Motherwell, Glasgow Central, Haymarket and loses 2 including Stapleton Road, Lawrence Hill.
Nearest other stations
Closed stations nearby
Former stations within 8 km of Southampton Central, from Wikidata. They are on the map under Closed & former stations.
- Northam · 1.0 miles
- Southampton Terminus · 1.0 miles
- Portswood closed 1866 · 1.7 miles
- Marchwood · 2.2 miles
- Hythe · 3.0 miles
- Nursling · 3.9 miles
Show closed stations on the map
Facilities at Southampton Central station
Southampton Central is staffed full time, with step-free access to the whole station.
Ticket office: Monday to Friday: 05:40 to 20:45 · Saturday: 06:00 to 20:45 · Sunday: 06:30 to 20:45
Toilets · Waiting room · WiFi
Parking at Southampton Central station
- Southampton Central Car Park (upside & downside) 182 spaces
£1.30 an hour, £3.90 off-peak, £7.90 a day, £31.50 a week - Southampton Central Car Park (premium) 16 spaces
£7.00 off-peak, £14.00 a day - Southampton Central Car Park (Upside & Downside) from Sunday 1 February 2026
£1.50 an hour, £4.40 off-peak, £8.70 a day, £34.70 a week - Southampton Central Car Park (Premium) from Sunday 1 February 2026
£6.30 off-peak, £12.50 a day
Cycle parking: 392 spaces (sheltered, stands).
From National Rail's station record, last updated 24 August 2026.
Getting to Southampton Central station
Southampton Central station is in Southampton, South East, and is run by South Western Railway.
The nearest motorway junction is M271 J1 (Nursling), 2.9 miles north-west.
8 bus stops are within a short walk, the nearest being Central Station.
Sources: Office of Rail and Road (Table 6329), OpenStreetMap and NaPTAN.
Southampton Central station elsewhere
- National Rail facilities, opening hours and live departures
- Realtime Trains every train calling today, to the minute
- Wikipedia the station's history
- OpenStreetMap the map data this page is built from