The Haslemere Community Station & Signal Box Trust (HCS&SBT) has announced major progress in its mission to preserve the town’s railway heritage, including a new exhibition space and plans for the historic signal box’s restoration.

Since the Trust’s last update, more than 150 supporters have joined as ‘Friends of the Haslemere Signal Box’, with a formal membership scheme also in development.

In a significant boost, South Western Railway has offered the group a 15-year lease on the offices above the station’s booking hall at a peppercorn rent. The space will be transformed into an exhibition area featuring railway memorabilia and a model of Haslemere Station and its 1930s goods yard.

Volunteers are now being sought to carry out repairs and redecorating before memorabilia — including an original Haslemere Station target pole sign and a station porter’s trolley — can be installed.

Still used daily to control trains, Haslemere’s signal box has been part of the station since 1895. It will be decommissioned on October 26, with restoration work taking place over the winter months. The Trust aims to open it to the public by Easter 2026, with technical support from the Permanent Way Institution and Sunville Rail.

As part of its community engagement, the Trust is also helping to organise the “Railway 200” celebration at Haslemere Station on Saturday, September 13. The event will feature a traction engine from Hollycombe and a Dennis Lowline double-decker bus on the forecourt, offering a nostalgic glimpse into the past for local residents.

A newly unveiled painting of the Clan Line steam engine by local artist Roger Dellar, commemorating the last steam train signalled from Haslemere Signal Box, is now on display at the Haslemere Information Hub.

For updates or to volunteer, visit haslemereinfohub.co.uk