At 00.34 in the early hours of Saturday, 25 October 2025, SWR Class 444 units 444009/040, which formed train 2P77 from London Waterloo (departing at 23.22 on Friday night) earned a place in railway history when it became the last passenger train ever to be signalled by Haslemere Signal Box. After 130 years of faithful service the signal box bells fell silent and its working life was over.
Under Network Rail’s (NR) heavily-delayed re-signalling plans, the box at Haslemere has closed, along with those at Farncombe and Petersfield, with control of the Portsmouth Direct Line being taken over by the NR Railway Operating Centre (ROC) at Basingstoke and the route scheduled to re-open, after a nine-closure, on Monday, 3 November 2025.
The signal box at Haslemere was unique amongst the trio of surviving boxes in retaining its original lever frame, with 19 red and black painted levers on its 47-lever Stevens frame remaining in use until closure, while the other white-painted levers once controlled points and signals in goods yards that stood on each side of the railway.
Closure of the three signal boxes forms part of the Farncombe 2 Petersfield (F2P) Project, which involves a comprehensive signalling upgrade to 25½ miles of the Portsmouth Direct Line from Farncombe to Petersfield. The £49m F2P scheme began in 2022 and includes installation of 90 LED signals to replace equipment that is more than 50 years old and upgrades to eight level crossings.
Whilst Farncombe box was immediately demolished and Petersfield box is too close to the running lines to be opened to the public, despite its Grade II Listing, things look a good deal brighter in Haslemere. Here a charitable trust called Haslemere Signal Box Educational CIO and trading as Haslemere Signal Box Trust (HSBT) is taking over box and plans to transform it into a working museum.
Haslemere Signal Box gained a Grade II Listing in September 2013, due to its retaining many original features, with the exterior largely unaltered since its opening and the survival inside of its original 47-lever frame and associated block instruments.
In addition, the box is a rarity, being the only remaining London & South Western Railway (LSWR) Type 4 six-window bay designs to survive and only of only two platform-mounted Type 4 signal boxes. Its 2013 Listing citation also highlighted what is known as group value, since it forms part of a group of un-designated, but historic, station buildings that includes the station booking hall (1858), waiting rooms and lattice-girder footbridge.
After lengthy negotiations with Network Rail, HSBT has secured a 15-year lease on signal box, and is also working hard to secure a wedge of derelict railway line near the box to landscape and transform into a memorial garden commemorating the 626 Southern Railway workers who died in World War II.
As part of its plans to develop a railway museum centred on the signal box, the Trust has also secured first floor offices above the station booking office, which it plans to use to display a model railway layout and some of the many railway artefacts it has acquired or secured on loan.
Two major local events in Spring 2025 helped draw attention to the signal box and its preservation. On 26 April the box signalled its last steam-hauled train, when Merchant Navy class 35208 Clan Line stopped for water at Haslemere station on the first leg of a nationwide rail tour called Great Britain XVII.
Then on VE Day (8 May) the Trust organised a gathering of distinguished guests from Network Rail, South Western Railway, the Railway Heritage Trust, Railway 200 as well as local MP Gregory Stafford, for a ceremony at the rear of the signals box to unveil a memorial plaque commemorating the 626 Southern Railway victims of World War II.
The Trust now plans to develop Haslemere Signal Box as an educational visitor attraction to complement the existing visitor hub in the main station building and to showcase its fittings (lever frame and block instruments) as an example of a heritage British signal box. All being well the first visitors will be able to visit the box by Easter 2026.
A steering committee behind this preservation project combines expertise in rail, civic affairs, communication, marketing and volunteering. Further expressions of interest and offers of memorabilia are always welcome (I am Secretary to the Trust) so to learn more, get involved, or become a Friend of Haslemere Signal Box, take a look at https://www.haslemereinfohub.co.uk/signalbox.html
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