| Blandford Forum | |
| Status: | Disused |
| Borough: | Blandford Forum, North Dorset |
| Country: | England |
| Grid Name: | Grid reference |
| Platforms: | 2 |
| Original: | Somerset and Dorset Railway |
| Pregroup: | Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway |
| Postgroup: | Southern Region of British Railways |
| Years: | 31 August 1863 |
| Events: | Opened as Blandford |
| Years1: | 21 September 1953 |
| Events1: | Renamed Blandford Forum |
| Years2: | 7 March 1966 |
| Events2: | Closed for passengers |
| Years3: | 1969 |
| Events3: | Closed for goods |
Blandford Forum railway station served the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset, England. It was a stop on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, which connected Bath with .
Originally part of the Dorset Central Railway, the line to Blandford opened on 1 November 1860 to a station at Blandford St Mary, to the south of the River Stour.[1] The Dorset Central merged with the Somerset Central Railway in 1862 and a new extension connecting the two railways was built. The extension opened on 31 August 1863, requiring a bridge over the Stour and a newly relocated Blandford Forum station to the north of the river.[2]
The station remained open until 7 March 1966, when the entire line from Bath to Bournemouth closed to passengers. Goods traffic continued for a further three years, but the station was finally fully closed in 1969 and the track was lifted.[3]
The impending closure of the station was lamented by musical duo Flanders & Swann, being one of some 30 stations mentioned in their 1964 song Slow Train ("No more will I go to Blandford Forum …"). The song was written in the wake of the first Beeching report, published in 1963 and was written as a tribute to the lines and stations that were to be closed.[4]
The site of the station now lies within a housing estate.[5]
A working model of Blandford station and its environs is in the process of being built in 1/76th scale at the Blandford Museum in the town centre.[6]