Swanage Railway

The Swanage Railway is a heritage line in the Isle of Purbeck, now managed by the Swanage Railway Trust. It currently operates trains over 9.7 km from a park-and-ride station at Norden to the seaside resort of Swanage, over a branch line opened in 1886 that formed part of the London & South Western Railway from the following year. The line extended from the LSWR main line at Wareham, past Corfe Castle to the coast, and served quarries producing the famous Purbeck Marble building stone and ball clay that was used in ceramic manufacturing all over Britain, and, from the 1970s, the oil extracted from the Wytch Farm field near Furzebrook. Passenger services ceased in 1972, but there was immediately public pressure to re-open the line as a heritage railway, and a local society for that purpose was granted facilities at Swanage station from 1975. The first trains under the new management were operated in 1979, and by 2002 the connection with the national network near Wareham was restored, enabling trains from the network to run to Swanage. It is anticipated that a regular service over the 18 km between Swanage and Wareham will be operated by diesel multiple units from the summer of 2017. Trains are currently operated by steam and diesel locomotives, mostly owned by trusts or private individuals. Most steam locomotives are from the former Southern Railway or British Railways standard locomotives of the 1950s.

The Swanage Railway Trust also operates the Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum at Norden station.

Swanage Railway
Swanage Railway Station
Station Road
BH19 1HB Swanage
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 1929 - 425800
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