How to find the Swanage Railway

Click here, on this small map or scroll down the page to see a larger map of the area.

By road: Swanage is situated on the Dorset coast between Poole Harbour and Weymouth. It is reached via the A351 from Wareham, or via the Sandbanks/Shell Bay Ferry operated by the Bournemouth-Swanage Motor Road and Ferry Company saving over 25 miles on a return journey from Poole to Swanage. Click here to visit their website for full details of ferry operations. from Bournemouth. Swanage station is situated in the centre of the town, just a few minutes walk from the beach. Norden Park and Ride station is situated off the A351 on the approach to Corfe Castle from Wareham.

By rail: The nearest National Rail station is Wareham, served by a twice hourly service from London, Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth. See below for details of bus services to connect from Wareham National Rail station to the Swanage Railway.

By bus: Wilts and Dorset buses provide the best link between the main National Rail network and the Swanage Railway. In Swanage all Wilts & Dorset buses run to and from the bus station which is in the railway station forecourt with direct access to the steam trains. There are full timetables for the area on the Wilts & Dorset website by clicking on this link http://www.wdbus.co.uk/
Bus Service 40 runs from Poole to Swanage via Wareham and Corfe Castle, approximately every hour on Mondays to Saturdays and every two hours on Sundays and Public Holidays but every hour during the Summer Season.
Bus Service 50 runs from Bournemouth to Swanage via the Sandbanks Ferry every hour Monday to Saturday and also on Sundays and Public Holidays during the summer period, but runs less frequently on Sundays and Public holidays during the winter. During the summer OPEN TOP double deck buses are used on the 50 route which crosses the mouth of Poole Harbour on the chain ferry and then climbs through the magnificent Purbeck Hills to Swanage. The 50 bus now terminates at Bournemouth Interchange (ie Bournemouth Rail Station).
The full timetables in Adobe Acrobat format for the 40 and 50 routes can be found by clicking on these links:
http://www.wdbus.co.uk/htm/ttSouthern/S_40.pdf or
http://www.wdbus.co.uk/htm/ttSouthern/S_50.pdf

Where to stay: Visit the Swanage Railway Accommodation Index page for details of places to stay in and around Swanage.