Trains from Fareham to London: Hourly Directs in 1h40

Trains from Fareham to London run direct to Waterloo every hour, and they are slower than most people expect. The quickest direct in South Western Railway’s own journey planner, checked on 9 October 2026 for the weekday timetable, does the journey in 1 hour 40 minutes; the peak-hour trains take 1h46 to 2h12. That is because the direct service does not go the short way through Portsmouth and Havant. It turns inland at Botley and joins the main line at Eastleigh, so a Fareham commute to London is a Winchester and Basingstoke journey, not a coastal one.

Everything below is read off the operators’ own journey planners and pages. The timetable was re-checked on 9 October 2026 and the fares in August 2026. South Western Railway’s Christmas plan and the station’s lift fault were re-checked on 18 October 2026, and the engineering works on 26 October 2026.

Trains from Fareham to London: the weekday timetable

These are the direct trains from Fareham to London Waterloo on an ordinary weekday, read from South Western Railway’s journey planner for Wednesday 4 November 2026, a date with no engineering work on the line. All are SWR services from platform 1.

So the off-peak rule is simple: 24 minutes past every hour, about 1h40 to Waterloo. In the afternoon two extra trains, the 15:57 and 16:57, add a second direct each hour. The first and last trains of the day are the slow ones, because they stop at more stations on the way.

Coming back, direct trains leave Waterloo at 9 minutes past the hour from 08:08 to 21:09, mostly taking 1h40 to 1h45, with extra peak trains at 15:12, 17:09, 18:07, 18:15 and 19:15. The 22:08 is the last direct home, into Fareham at 23:58.

Saturdays run on a cleaner pattern: on Saturday 7 November the first direct was the 05:50, then hourly at 59 minutes past from 06:59 to 22:59, each taking about 1h43. Back from Waterloo it was 36 minutes past every hour from 06:36 to 22:36, the last one arriving at 00:19.

Sundays start later and the times move about. On Sunday 18 October the first direct left Fareham at 07:46 and the hourly trains at 46 past took about 1h55; the last direct back left Waterloo at 22:50 and got in at 00:48. On Sunday 8 November the first direct is not until 09:48. Check your Sunday in advance.

A note if you check times yourself: Trainline’s route page quotes a first train at 04:22 and a fastest journey of 1h39. Neither appears in SWR’s own planner for an ordinary November weekday, where nothing leaves Fareham for London before 05:22 and no journey, direct or with a change, beats 1h40.

The direct train, stop by stop

The direct service is South Western Railway’s Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo train via Eastleigh. Here is the 07:20 from Fareham, which is the one most people going into London for a 9.30 meeting will be on.

That is the shape of the whole service. There is no fast option that skips the middle: every London train from Fareham calls at Winchester and Basingstoke, and the timetable we read had direct journeys ranging from 1h47 to 2h07 depending on the departure.

Times that matter

• Fastest direct: the off-peak trains at 24 past, 1h40 (for example 09:24 arriving 11:04). In the August timetable we first checked, the 08:24 into Waterloo at 10:11 in 1h47 was the quickest we found, and it still runs. Coming home, the off-peak trains at 9 past take 1h40, and the 17:09 from Waterloo reaches Fareham at 18:52, 1h43.
• First train of the day (Monday): 05:23 in August, 05:22 in the November timetable. That runs direct into Waterloo at 07:30, or you can change at Basingstoke off the same departure and be in at 07:21.
• Last train home (Monday): the 22:08 from Waterloo, direct, into Fareham at 23:58. Miss it and the next arrival is 05:09 the following morning, so 22:08 is the real deadline. If you want to be home sooner, the 22:05 changes at Southampton Airport Parkway and gets in at 23:44.
• Frequency: roughly hourly direct, with connecting options in between via Fratton, Havant, Eastleigh or Southampton Central that usually take about the same time.

The change-at-somewhere options are worth knowing because they are often no slower. The 07:04 into Havant, changing there onto a Portsmouth line fast train, reaches Waterloo at 08:54 in 1h50, three minutes off the direct.

What it costs

Season tickets, from the operator-fed prices on Trainline in August 2026:

The one nearly everyone buys is the first line: £6,860 a year for London Terminals on any permitted route. The zones 1 to 6 Travelcard adds £1,168 a year and only pays for itself if you use the Underground both ends every day.

For occasional trips, the walk-up fares on the day were:

• Super Off-Peak Single £42.90, Super Off-Peak Return £43.90
• Off-Peak Return £55.00
• Anytime Day Single £49.60, Anytime Day Return £97.30
• Off-Peak Day Travelcard £67.40, Anytime Day Travelcard £108.70
• Advance singles from £22.10 on South Western Railway services only, in fixed price steps up to £48.60

Note the gap between the Super Off-Peak Return at £43.90 and the Anytime Day Return at £97.30. On this route, travelling after the morning peak more than halves the fare, which is a bigger swing than on most Hampshire lines.

Parking at the station

Fareham station has 154 spaces, seven of them accessible. South Western Railway’s charges:

• Peak day £4.50, off-peak (from 12:00 Monday to Friday) £2.30
• Saturday and Sunday £2.30
• Weekly £17.90, monthly £62.60, quarterly £187.80, annual £626.00
• Hourly at £1.00 is available from 12:00, through RingGo only

Add the annual car park to an annual season and a Fareham to London commute is £7,486 a year before you have bought anything at either end. Blue Badge holders can register for free parking.

The station itself

The station is managed by South Western Railway. The ticket office is open 05:40 to 19:55 Monday to Friday, 06:10 to 19:55 on Saturday and 08:00 to 19:00 on Sunday. National Rail lists it as step-free category A, with step-free access to all platforms.

When we checked the National Rail station page on 18 October 2026 it carried one fault, posted on 15 October: the lifts between platform 3 and the rest of the station are out of order, with no end date. London trains normally leave from platform 1, but if you are arriving on platform 3 or need step-free access between platforms, book assistance from South Western Railway in advance rather than turning up and hoping. The platform 1 toilet fault listed in August no longer appears.

Where else the trains go

Fareham is a junction, and the non-London services are the better half of the timetable:

• Portsmouth Harbour: direct in 24 to 25 minutes, several an hour.
• Southampton Central: direct in 21 to 31 minutes depending on the service.
• Brighton: direct in 1h20, half-hourly, on Southern’s coastway line through Havant and Barnham. That is quicker than getting to London.
• Cardiff Central: a direct Great Western service does it in 3h02; connections through Basingstoke or Southampton run about the same.

If your journey is south or west, Fareham is well placed. It is the London run that costs you.

Fareham to London engineering works, October 2026 to January 2027

The direct Fareham to London line through Eastleigh and Basingstoke escapes most of this autumn’s work, but the alternatives via Havant and Southampton do not. Every item below is from National Rail’s published engineering notices, first read on 9 October 2026 and re-checked on 18 and 26 October, as the December and January notices appeared.

• Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October: no trains between Fareham and Southampton Central all weekend, buses instead. The London direct through Eastleigh is not on the list. On the Sunday, buses also replace trains between Guildford and Petersfield, so the Havant and Portsmouth Direct route to London is slower too.
• Monday 26 to Friday 30 October: Havant re-signalling. Buses replace SWR trains between Petersfield and Portsmouth Harbour, so changing at Havant onto the Portsmouth Direct line is out for the week. Use the direct via Eastleigh.
• Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November: buses between Haslemere (Saturday) or Guildford (Sunday) and Havant. Again, the Eastleigh route is the one to use.
• Sunday 15 November: the line through Wimbledon is closed between Clapham Junction and Surbiton. Trains from Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour are diverted and retimed, so Sunday trips to London that day will take longer.
• Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November: all lines through Havant are closed, with buses between Petersfield and Portsmouth Harbour.
• Monday 23 to Wednesday 25 November, late evenings: after 22:20 each night buses replace trains between Basingstoke and Southampton Central via Winchester. That catches the 22:08 from Waterloo, the last direct to Fareham, so plan on an earlier train on those three nights.
• Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November: work between Winchester and St Denys. On Saturday, Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour trains via Eastleigh terminate at Winchester, with buses between Winchester and Fareham; some Weymouth trains are diverted via Guildford, Havant and Fareham and call there instead. On Sunday, buses run between Basingstoke, Fareham and Eastleigh.
• Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December: buses between Haslemere and Petersfield (Saturday) or Havant (Sunday). On the Sunday there are also buses around Southampton, Eastleigh and Romsey; Great Western trains to Cardiff and Bristol run from Fareham via Eastleigh instead of Southampton Central. The London direct through Botley is not on either notice.
• Monday 7 to Thursday 10 December, late nights: from 22:50 buses replace trains between Guildford or Haslemere and Havant or Portsmouth, so a late journey home via Havant ends on a bus. The Eastleigh route is unaffected.
• Sunday 20 December: the London direct is on a bus. All lines are closed between St Denys and Fratton, and buses replace South Western Railway trains between Eastleigh or Southampton Central and Portsmouth Harbour, which takes in Fareham. Allow extra time to reach Eastleigh for the London train.
• Sunday 3 January: no direct train between Fareham and Basingstoke. All lines between Salisbury and Southampton Central are closed from Friday 1 to Sunday 3 January. On the Sunday, National Rail’s notice has buses replacing trains between Basingstoke and Fareham, and between Basingstoke and Southampton Central. A Sunday trip to London that day starts on a bus as far as Basingstoke; the alternative is the train east to Havant for the Portsmouth Direct line. On the Saturday the buses run only between Winchester and Southampton Central, which the Fareham direct does not use.
• Monday 4 to Thursday 7 January, late nights: overnight work around Eastleigh. The 22:08 from Waterloo starts from Eastleigh at about 23:55, after a bus from Basingstoke. South Western Railway’s notice tells Fareham passengers to take the 22:05 from Waterloo instead, diverted via Guildford and Havant and calling at Fareham. The 22:35 to Poole takes the same diversion.

Trains from Fareham to London over Christmas and New Year

South Western Railway published its 2026 Christmas plan on its Christmas travel page, read on 18 October 2026, and its journey planner is loaded up to Monday 4 January 2027:

Three things follow for Fareham. Christmas Eve’s last train from Waterloo is around 22:00 across the network, so do not count on the usual 22:08 direct that night. And the work at Wimbledon on 27 and 28 December slows the trains to Waterloo, so the Eastleigh route will take longer than the usual 1h40 on those two days. And Sunday 3 January is not a normal Sunday from Fareham whatever the Christmas page says: a separate National Rail engineering notice, read on 26 October, puts buses between Basingstoke and Fareham that day, so going back to London after New Year means a bus to Basingstoke or a change at Havant.

Before you travel

Check live running before you leave, particularly if you are relying on the last train. Timetables and fares change: the season prices above were read in August 2026 and the January fares round usually moves them.

More Fareham local information: house prices, roadworks and travel, planning news and things to do in Fareham.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the train from Fareham to London?

The fastest direct trains take 1 hour 40 minutes to London Waterloo; these are the off-peak trains at 24 minutes past the hour. Peak trains take 1h43 to 1h52, and the first and last trains of the day about 2h05 to 2h12.

How often do trains run from Fareham to London?

There is a direct train every hour through the day, with extra directs in the morning peak and two an hour in the late afternoon. Trains with a change at Havant, Fratton, Eastleigh or Southampton fill the gaps.

What time is the first train from Fareham to London?

On a weekday the first direct is the 05:22, into Waterloo at 07:30. On Saturdays it is the 05:50. On Sundays it is much later: 07:46 on 18 October and 09:48 on 8 November.

What time is the last train from London to Fareham?

The 22:08 from Waterloo, arriving 23:58, Monday to Friday. On Saturdays the last direct is the 22:36, arriving 00:19. On the nights of 23 to 25 November the 22:08 is replaced by a bus from Basingstoke, and from 4 to 7 January it starts at Eastleigh, so take the 22:05 via Havant, which calls at Fareham.

Are trains running from Fareham to London at Christmas?

Not on Christmas Day or Boxing Day: South Western Railway runs no trains at all on 25 and 26 December. On Christmas Eve the last train from Waterloo is around 22:00. Trains run with a reduced service towards Portsmouth on 27 and 28 December because of engineering work around Wimbledon, a Saturday timetable on 29 and 30 December, and a normal service from Monday 4 January. On Sunday 3 January buses replace trains between Fareham and Basingstoke, so the direct route to London is part bus that day.

Which London station do trains from Fareham go to?

London Waterloo. Every direct train from Fareham runs there. Trains via Havant and Brighton can get you to London Victoria or London Bridge, but they take longer.

How much is the train from Fareham to London?

Advance singles start from about £10 when booked early, according to Trainline, and SWR’s own Advance fares ran from £22.10 when we checked in August. On the day, a Super Off-Peak Single was £42.90 and an Anytime Day Return £97.30. An annual season ticket is £6,860.

Sources

• National Rail timetable and walk-up fares for Fareham to London Waterloo, via traintimes.org.uk
• Fareham station information, National Rail (lift fault, read 18 October 2026)
• Christmas and New Year travel, South Western Railway (read 18 October 2026)
• Fareham station car parking charges, South Western Railway
• Fareham to London season ticket prices, Trainline
• Fareham to London Waterloo train times, South Western Railway (journey planner: weekday, Saturday and Sunday direct trains, read 9 October 2026)
• Fareham to London Waterloo, Trainline (trains per day, advance from-price)
• National Rail engineering notices: Southampton Central, 24 and 25 October, Havant, 26 to 30 October, Guildford/Haslemere to Havant, 31 October, Wimbledon, 15 November, Havant, 21 and 22 November, Basingstoke to Winchester, 23 to 25 November, Southampton Airport Parkway, 28 and 29 November, Guildford and Petersfield, 25 October, Haslemere to Havant, 5 and 6 December, Southampton Central, 6 December, Guildford to Havant, 7 to 10 December, Southampton to Portsmouth, 20 December, Eastleigh late nights, 4 to 8 January, Salisbury to Southampton Central, 1 to 3 January