The station was designed by William Jacob, chief engineer of the London and South Western Railway, and opened on 20 July 1885 as Bournemouth East replacing the original station of the same name which was located on the other side of Holdenhurst Road. The station was located some distance away from the town centre on the insistence of town authorities of the time. It was renamed Bournemouth Central on 1 May 1899 and became Bournemouth on 10 July 1967. By 1967 third rail electrification had reached Bournemouth and continued beyond to Branksome and Bournemouth Depot but no further.
From the end of steam most trains were formed of 4REP EMU's coupled up with one or more unpowered 4TC units. The 4TC units would be uncoupled at Bournemouth and attached to a Class 33/1 diesel locomotive for the onward journey to Weymouth. This continued until the elctrification of the line from Branksome to Weymouth and the introduction of Wessex Electric units in 1988. The end of steam also saw to removal of the station's centre tracks which ran between the up and down lines serving platforms 2 and 3 respectively and the demolition of the locomotive sheds located to the west; the station car park is now located on this site.
The station roof was extensively refurbished in 2000 by Railtrack after many years of disrepair and being surrounded by scaffolding to protect people from falling debris.
By Road: North of town centre on Holdenhurst Road.
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South Western Circle - London & South Western Railway
