HISTORY

Yarmouth Station was constructed as part of the Freshwater Yarmouth Newport Railway in the early 1880's, and the first train ran from here on 20th July 1889. The railway line never connected with the Lymington ferry, and as a result all coal, livestock and passengers had to be transported down the backstreets of Yarmouth to get to the train. There was another platform on the south side of the tracks, but because of the river opposite the actual station, it was built 100 yards down the track towards Newport. 

The FYN railway never really made any money (one year's accounts show a profit of £6 for the whole year!), it was taken over by the Isle of Wight Central Railway in 1923, and managed by Southern Railways. Ten years before the infamous Beeching cuts, the line closed forever on 20th September 1953. The station remained empty for many years until about 1960, when an old wooden barracks hut was bought for £1000, brought to site and attached to the east end of the old station. For the next 50 years the whole building was used as a meeting hall and became the Yarmouth Youth Club.

The building was sold by the Council in 2010, the wooden hut was demolished to make way for a larger reconstruction of the original station. The signal box was added to create a viewing area over the marshes, and the whole building given a Southern Railway theme. "Off The Rails" restaurant opened in August 2014, and the old station has been given a new lease of life welcoming walkers, cyclists, birdwatchers, tourists and locals to the area.