Dorchester South Station revamp close to completion

Dorchester South Station is being given a complete revamp with a larger ticket hall and waiting room being built and new enclosed shelters due to open on both platforms.

A South Western Railway spokesman said it is hoped the work will be completed by early November.

They said: "Work on the new waiting shelters is almost complete and we hope that they will be available to customers soon.

"Work at the front of the station is also progressing well and we are hopeful of it being complete in early November."

There will also be enhanced lighting and landscaping, including a realignment of the access ramp on the forecourt.

Robert Potter, of the Friends of Dorchester South, who lives close to the station, says the work seems to have been ‘full of delays’.

He said: “In the last week or 10 days you can see a bit of progress. When it’s all done it’s going to be good.

“Every day we’re seeing people having to walk a long way into the car park to get into the station.

“The waiting shelters seem to be finished but like everything these days probably need to be checked and signed off.

“For the last three years the Friends have put a Christmas tree in the booking hall and we’re hoping we’re going to be able to do that this year.”

Dorchester Town Councillor Mollie Rennie, whose ward includes the station, said she is pleased that South Western Railway is securing the future of the ticket office with a revamped booking hall.

Last year South Western Railway launched a consultation on changes which would see ticket offices at Dorchester South and Weymouth stations shut as part of a mass cost-cutting closure of railway ticket offices in England.

But in a U-turn the government urged train services to withdraw their proposals to close ticket offices, meaning that stations at Dorchester South and Weymouth were safe from the axe.

• READ: Plans to scrap ticket office closures met with delight
• READ: Upset at Dorchester train ticket office closure

Cllr Rennie said: “It’s lovely to see the work happening.

"The work is progressing and people are saying how happy they are with it.

“It will be good to have the ticket booking office and proper entrance open again and people being able to get in to use it and not having to wend their way in through the side gate.

“I’m glad they have shown faith in the ticket office instead of getting rid of it – not everybody wants to talk to a machine and have electronic tickets.”