Between Monday 13 April and Wednesday 26 August 2026 the lifts at Southampton Central station will be refurbished, affecting step-free access.

The three platform lifts will be replaced as follows:

Platform 1 – Monday 13 April to Tuesday 26 May

There will be no step-free interchange from platform 1, affecting customers travelling on SWR services towards Romsey via Eastleigh and London Waterloo, CrossCountry services towards Manchester Piccadilly, and GWR services towards Portsmouth Harbour.

A free taxi service will be available to transfer customers to platform 2 to exit the station, and for lift access to platforms 2 and 3.

Platform 4 - Wednesday 27 May to Tuesday 7 July

There will be no step-free interchange from platform 4, affecting customers travelling on SWR services towards Salisbury and Weymouth, CrossCountry services towards Bournemouth, and GWR services towards Cardiff Central.

A free taxi service will be available to transfer customers to platform 1 to exit the station, and for lift access to platforms 2 and 3.

Platforms 2 and 3 – Thursday 16 July to Wednesday 26 August

There will be no step-free access on platforms 2 and 3, affecting customers travelling on SWR services towards Bournemouth (stopping), Portsmouth & Southsea and Salisbury, and Southern services towards Brighton.

Customers who need to transfer between platforms or exit the station will need to circulate via other stations.

Customers travelling on services from Brighton or Portsmouth & Southsea are advised to travel to Fareham and use the GWR service to Cardiff Central. These services call at platform 4 at Southampton Central, where lifts are available.

Customers travelling on services from Romsey to Salisbury are advised to change at Southampton Airport Parkway for a service to Weymouth, which will call at platform 4 at Southampton Central, where lifts are available.

Customers travelling on stopping services from Winchester to Bournemouth are advised to change at Southampton Airport Parkway for a service to Weymouth, which will call at platform 4 at Southampton Central, where lifts are available.

Customers travelling on stopping services from Bournemouth to Winchester are advised to change at Brockenhurst for a service to London Waterloo, which will call at platform 1 at Southampton Central, where lifts are available.

Customers who require access to platforms 2 and 3:

• If starting a journey at Southampton Central, are advised to travel by train to Brockenhurst (platform 4) or Southampton Airport Parkway (platform 1) and travel back as below.
• If arriving by train from the direction of Bournemouth, are advised to travel on a stopping service to Winchester. These services call at platform 2.
• If arriving by train from the direction of London, are advised to change at Southampton Airport Parkway for a service to Salisbury. These services call at platform 3.
• If travelling towards Brighton, are advised to travel on a GWR service to Portsmouth Harbour (platform 1) and change at Fareham for a Southern service to Brighton. 

Assistance with luggage

Dedicated station colleagues will be available to help transport luggage, however customers with large items of luggage are advised to allow extra time to complete their journeys. During busy periods it may take longer to provide assistance.

Customers are also reminded that there are restrictions on the numbers and size of items of luggage that they can travel with. More information can be found on our website here and on the National Rail website here.

Further information

Please note that the above dates are subject to change.

To book assistance for your journey, please visit our Assisted Travel page.

Please check back for updates.