The Swanage Railway follows the route of the former
London and South Western Railway line from
Wareham to Swanage, a line that opened in 1885 and was closed by
British Rail in 1972. From the time of closure, a strong campaign to reopen the railway as a
steam locomotive operated
heritage railway developed, and the Swanage Railway began operating a steam service at the Swanage end of the line in 1982. The original line did not have a station at Herston Halt, and the current station was opened at Easter 1984 by the Swanage Railway as a temporary terminus for the line. The station opened as a simple wooden platform construction which took two coaches, which has now been dismantled and replaced with a concrete platform recovered from the old
Woodside railway station. The station reopened on Good Friday 2009 – 25 years after the original opening. ==Future==