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Bournemouth Transport |
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One of the best ways to go about Bournemouth is by train. The rail network has two stations in the town, the Bournemouth railway station and the Pokesdown railway station to the east. The Branksome station is also a fine takeoff point for those who want to reach the western parts of Bournemouth.
Originally known as East with a second station serving the west of the town in Queens Road, Bournemouth station is unfortunately located far from the town centre, no thanks to the adamant refusal of the community s founding fathers to allow a station to be set up within its confines. Poole station, by contrast, is near the Poole town centre.
Among the train operating companies that service the town are South West Trains (SWT), Virgin Trains and Southern Trains, which was originally known as South Central Trains. Those who are on their way to London Waterloo can take SWT s comprehensive service there, with a journey time of as little as 97 minutes. Southampton, Winchester and Basingstoke to the east, and Poole, Wareham, Dorchester and Weymouth to the west are also served by this line. Virgin Trains, meanwhile, serve destinations to the north with direct trains to Birmingham and the Midlands, Reading, Oxford, Yorkshire, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Manchester and the Northwest. By changing at Southhampton Central, travelers can avail of Southern Trains 'West-Coastway' services. This line serves the Sussex
Coastal towns of Chichester, Worthing, Hove and Brighton, and the trains continue to Gatwick Airport and London Victoria.
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The coaches of National Express also traverse the Bournemouth Travel Interchange, Boscombe and Westbourne, with frequent departures to London Victoria Coach Station. There are also direct services to the West Country, Sussex coast (Brighton and Eastbourne), Bristol, Birmingham and the Midlands, the North West, and to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Travelers can also count on Flightlink coach services to take them to Heathrow Airport, with connecting services to Gatwick and Stansted Airports.
A short journey away from the town centre is the Bournemouth International Airport. With its thankfully favorable location, passengers and freight can now be easily flown to various United Kingdom and international destinations. Heathrow and Gatwick Airports are also easily accessible by car or coach. One of the carriers operating out of the airport is Ryanair, the largest low-cost carrier in Europe. It has scheduled flights to Glasgow (Prestwick), Dublin, Barcelona (Girona) and Frankfurt (Hahn). Several new operators have set up base in the airport in 2005, effectively widening the range of destinations in Europe.
Bournemouth may not have its own harbour, but extensive ferry services to the Channel Islands and France are available. Fast cat services also operate to Cherbourg, Guernsey and Jersey during the summer. Cruises to the Isle of Wight, Swanage, Poole and Brownsea Island depart from Bournemouth Pier.
The Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch area can be reached by car. But with the worsening congestion of some roads in the area, doing so may not be such a hot idea. The county of Dorset has no motorway within its boundaries, although a dual carriageway from Bournemouth Town Centre to the A31 dual carriageway leading to the M27 and London is in existence. Motorists may also gain fast access to the M4 north of Newbury, Berkshire.
But to fully appreciate everything about the town centre, the best way to go about is by walking. Bournemouth s seven-mile seafront stretches between Hengisbury Head in the east and Alum Chine in the west. One third of the way along this stretch, where the Bourne Stream trickles through Central Gardens, Bournemouth Square and Lower Gardens to meet the sea at Bournemouth Pier, is the town centre, whose main streets are Commercial Road, Old Christchurch Road and Westover Road. Clustered five minutes away from Bournemouth Pier, which is regarded as the heart of the beachfront, are key attractions such as the Oceanarium, the Bournemouth International Centre and the Pavilion Theatre. Walk ten more minutes to the west of the Pier along West Promenade and there are the Blue Flag beaches of Alum Chine and Durley Chine. The Boscombe Pier Beach and another Blue Flag beach, the Southbourne Beach, are located east of Bournemouth Pier along Undercliff Drive.
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