Yeovil Pen Mill railway station

The first railway in Yeovil was a Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) branch from near Taunton which opened to a terminus at Hendford on the west side of the town on 1 October 1853.^[1] The Great Western Railway (GWR) had been slowly building its Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway. This reached Pen Mill on the east side of the town on 1 September 1856.^[2] It was a temporary terminus for the line until it was completed through to Weymouth on 20 January 1857.^[2] The contractors for the GWR line had used a temporary track to Hendford to bring materials to Pen Mill, and the B&ER now brought this up to passenger standard and extended their trains to Pen Mill from 2 February 1857.^[3] Both lines were built to the GWR's broad gauge but the BER added a third rail to allow standard gauge trains to operate on their line from November 1868. The GWR converted their line to standard gauge in June 1974 and broad gauge trains were withdrawn from the BER line (which had been owned by the GWR since 1 January 1876) in June 1879, after which all trains at Yeovil were on the standard gauge.^[4]

The GWR opened a locomotive depot at the station in September 1856, which operated until January 1959 when it was closed and the locomotives were transferred to Yeovil Town depot.^[5]

A connection between the GWR line and the Southern Railway station at Yeovil Junction during World War II to allow trains direct access between the Weymouth line and the Southern's West of England Line. This was opened on 13 October 1943 and offered a new route for trains of war materials, as well as a diversion route in the event of bomb damage.^[6]

The station has a ticket office, accessible toilets, a car park, waiting rooms, help points and live departure screens.^[9] There is step-free access to the northbound platform, but the island platform can only be reached by the footbridge.^[10]

There has consistently been more than 100,000 entries and exits recorded at the station every year since 2008. Before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 they had increased to about 140,000 but during this period they dropped to fewer than 40,000. They were exceeding pre-COVID levels by 2022 and in 2024–25 they were just short of 170,000.^[11]

Great Western Railway operates the majority of services at Pen Mill, on their route between Weymouth and Gloucester, via Bristol Temple Meads.^[12]

South Western Railway operates a few services between London Waterloo and Pen Mill, some via Yeovil Junction and others via Westbury.^[13]

More information Preceding station, National Rail ...

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Castle Cary		Great Western Railway Heart of Wessex Line		Thornford
		South Western Railway Heart of Wessex Line		Yeovil Junction

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The station, along with others on the Heart of Wessex Line, is part of the South Wessex Community Rail Partnership.^[14]