Petersfield trains to London: 63 min, £5,928 a year

Q: How long is the train from Petersfield to London?

63 minutes on the fastest off-peak services, which leave at roughly 48 minutes past the hour. The alternate hourly service, at about 10 minutes past, takes 1h 13m. Peak-time journeys ranged from 1h 6m to 1h 42m on a sampled weekday.

Q: Which station do Petersfield trains go to in London?

London Waterloo, on South Western Railway's Portsmouth Direct Line. Every passenger service from Petersfield runs to Waterloo; there is no alternative London terminus and no alternative operator.

Q: How much is a season ticket from Petersfield to London?

£5,928 a year to London Terminals, or £569.10 monthly and £148.20 weekly. A cheaper route-restricted annual option is listed at £5,848. Add £1,354 if you also want an annual space in the station car park.

Q: How much is parking at Petersfield station?

£9.70 for a peak day, £4.90 off-peak, £38.70 a week, £135.40 a month or £1,354 a year. There are 154 spaces. Blue Badge holders park free if registered.

Q: Is Petersfield station step-free?

Partly. It is step-free category B1, with level access at the London end of both platforms, which is enough for a wheelchair user to board a train. Staffed assistance hours are 06:00 to 11:00 and 16:00 to 21:00 on weekdays.

The fastest Petersfield to Waterloo train takes 63 minutes and an annual season costs £5,928. Off-peak pattern, walk-up fares and station car park prices.

Petersfield sits on the Portsmouth Direct Line, which means one operator, one London terminus and no changes. South Western Railway runs every passenger train through the station, and they all end up at London Waterloo. There is no second route to compare and no cheaper operator to hunt for, which makes the decisions here unusually simple: how fast, how often, and which ticket.

How long the journey actually takes

63 minutes is the fastest Petersfield to Waterloo time in the current timetable, on the off-peak fast services. Nothing beats it, and the range either side of it is wide.

Off-peak the pattern is two trains an hour and they are not the same train:

Off-peak Petersfield to London Waterloo, weekday pattern
Departs	Arrives Waterloo	Journey	What it is
11:48	12:51	1h 3m	The fast one, roughly at 48 minutes past
12:10	13:23	1h 13m	The stopper, roughly at 10 minutes past
12:48	13:51	1h 3m	Fast
13:10	14:23	1h 13m	Stopper

Ten minutes separates those two services on the clock and ten minutes separates them on the journey. If you are not tied to a meeting time, waiting until :48 is worth it.

The morning peak is busier and slower. On a sampled weekday there were five departures between 06:00 and 07:00 and five more between 08:00 and 09:00, but the spread ran from 1h 6m on the best of them to 1h 42m on the worst.

Morning peak departures from Petersfield, sampled weekday
Departs	Arrives	Journey
06:42	07:53	1h 11m
07:14	08:27	1h 13m
07:34	09:16	1h 42m
07:47	08:54	1h 7m
08:19	09:30	1h 11m
08:49	09:55	1h 6m

The lesson for a commuter is the same in both directions: the timetable contains services that take half an hour longer than the one before them. Check the arrival time, not just the departure.

What it costs

Walk-up fares from Petersfield to London Terminals, current at the time of writing:

Petersfield to London walk-up fares
Ticket	Price	Worth knowing
Advance single	from £33.00	Tied to one booked train
Anytime day single	£36.30	Only £3.30 more than the advance, and flexible
Anytime day return	£72.40	The default day-trip fare
Anytime open return	£72.60	20p more, comes back another day
Anytime day travelcard	£84.30	£11.90 more, adds Tube and bus travel in London

Two of those are worth pausing on. The advance single saves only £3.30 over the fully flexible anytime single, which is a small reward for committing to one train. And the day travelcard adds London travel for £11.90, which is less than three Tube journeys on contactless.

Season tickets to London Terminals:

Weekly: £148.20
Monthly: £569.10
Annual: £5,928

Trainline also lists a slightly cheaper route-restricted option at £146.20 weekly, £561.50 monthly and £5,848 a year, so it is worth checking what restriction applies before you buy.

Below two days a week, buy day returns. At two days or more, the annual season wins and keeps winning.

Getting to the station

The station car park has 154 spaces and is not cheap:

Daily: £4.90 off-peak, £9.70 peak
Weekly: £38.70
Monthly: £135.40
Annual: £1,354.00
Blue Badge holders park free, with registration

An annual season plus an annual car park space is £7,282 a year. That is worth putting next to the town’s house prices before deciding how far out of Petersfield to buy.

For cyclists the station is unusually well provided: 172 cycle spaces, including 166 cycle stands, split between covered areas and secure compounds on the platforms and in the car park, with CCTV.

The ticket office is open 06:10 to 20:00 Monday to Saturday and 08:00 to 18:00 on Sunday. The station is step-free category B1, with level access at the London end of both platforms, so a wheelchair user can board; staff assistance runs 06:00 to 11:00 and 16:00 to 21:00 on weekdays.

When the trains are not running

Petersfield’s rail line and its road to London share a weakness: when one closes, the other absorbs it. National Highways has A3 overnight closures either side of the Hindhead Tunnel through September, October and early November 2026, and the signed diversions run through Bordon, Alton and Petersfield. If you are weighing driving against the train on a given evening, check both. The details are on our roadworks and travel page.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the train from Petersfield to London?

63 minutes on the fastest off-peak services, which leave at roughly 48 minutes past the hour. The alternate hourly service, at about 10 minutes past, takes 1h 13m. Peak-time journeys ranged from 1h 6m to 1h 42m on a sampled weekday.

Which station do Petersfield trains go to in London?

London Waterloo, on South Western Railway’s Portsmouth Direct Line. Every passenger service from Petersfield runs to Waterloo; there is no alternative London terminus and no alternative operator.

How much is a season ticket from Petersfield to London?

£5,928 a year to London Terminals, or £569.10 monthly and £148.20 weekly. A cheaper route-restricted annual option is listed at £5,848. Add £1,354 if you also want an annual space in the station car park.

Is an annual season ticket worth it from Petersfield?

If you travel two or more days a week, yes. The annual season breaks even at 82 return journeys, which over 46 travelling weeks is about 1.8 days a week. At one day a week you are better off buying £72.40 Anytime day returns.

How much is parking at Petersfield station?

£9.70 for a peak day, £4.90 off-peak, £38.70 a week, £135.40 a month or £1,354 a year. There are 154 spaces. Blue Badge holders park free if registered.

Is Petersfield station step-free?

Partly. It is step-free category B1, with level access at the London end of both platforms, which is enough for a wheelchair user to board a train. Staffed assistance hours are 06:00 to 11:00 and 16:00 to 21:00 on weekdays.

Petersfield house prices, postcode by postcode, which is the other half of the commuter maths.
Petersfield roadworks, parking and travel, including the A3 closures and town car park tariffs.
Things to do in Petersfield for the return journey.

Sources

traintimes.org.uk, which carries National Rail timetables and walk-up fares, for the journey times, the off-peak pattern and every fare in the walk-up table. Checked for a sampled weekday, 10 August 2026.
Trainline season tickets, Petersfield to London for the weekly, monthly and annual season prices.
South Western Railway, Petersfield station for car park spaces and tariffs, cycle parking, ticket office hours and step-free category.
National Highways, Hindhead Tunnel for the autumn 2026 A3 closures and diversion routes.

Timetables and fares change. Confirm both against National Rail and South Western Railway before you travel, and check the machine before you pay to park.