| Gillingham | |
| Symbol Location: | gb |
| Symbol: | rail |
| Borough: | Gillingham, Dorset |
| Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 51.034°N -2.273°W |
| Grid Name: | Grid reference |
| Manager: | South Western Railway |
| Platforms: | 2 |
| Code: | GIL |
| Classification: | DfT category D |
| Original: | Salisbury and Yeovil Railway |
| Pregroup: | London and South Western Railway |
| Postgroup: | Southern Railway |
| Years: | 2 May 1859 |
| Events: | Line opened from |
| Years1: | 1 June 1860 |
| Events1: | Line extended westwards |
| Years2: | 1 April 1967 |
| Events2: | Line singled |
| Footnotes: | Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road |
Gillingham railway station is in Gillingham, Dorset, England. It is on the West of England Main Line, 105chain23chain down the line from . Today it is managed by South Western Railway. The main offices, designed by Sir William Tite, stand on the north side of the line.
It is commonly suffixed as Gillingham (Dorset) to avoid confusion with a station of the same name in Kent.
On 3 April 1856 Miss Seymour, sister of the company’s chairman, dug the first ceremonial sod for the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway (S&YR) at Gillingham. Three years later, on 2 May 1859, the railway from opened to Gillingham, and was completed to station at Yeovil on 1 June 1860. The station was close to the town centre. The main offices and goods shed were on the north side of the line, further sidings to serve a brickworks were added on the other side of the line, and a signal box opened in 1875. Trains were provided for the S&YR by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), which bought out the smaller company in 1878. In the twentieth century the LSWR operated motor bus services from Gillingham station to Mere, Zeals and Shaftesbury.[1]
In 1923 the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway, which in turn was nationalised in 1948 to become the Southern Region of British Railways. A new signal box was opened on 28 April 1957, but on 5 April 1965 public goods services were withdrawn. Three years later a fertiliser distribution depot was opened in the old goods yard (it closed in 1993). The line had been transferred to the Western Region in 1963, and through trains beyond were soon diverted along other routes. The line was reduced to just a single track on 1 April 1967 with a passing loop retained at Gillingham.[1] Initially the single-track sections were 7miles westwards to and 19miles eastwards to Wilton, but the latter was shortened to 9miles[2] in 1986.[1] The former signal box (now reduced to ground frame status following the 2012 resignalling) is at the west end of the station by the end of this platform.[3]
The track serving the northern platform is signalled for trains to run in either direction so most trains use this platform unless two need to pass. The southern platform, which is reached by a footbridge, is then used for the westbound train.
South Western Railway operate hourly services between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids.