The station was opened in 1864 by the Isle of Wight Railway on their initial Ryde-Shanklin line. In 1882 it became a junction station, when the Brading-Bembridge branch line opened as part of the Brading Haven reclamation scheme. The branch line closed to passengers in 1953 and completely in 1957. Under Southern Railway ownership, the passing loop was extended southwards from Brading to Sandown in 1927, forming a second section of double track on the Island Line. Brading was one of the last stations on the British Rail network to retain gas lighting, with the fittings converted to mercury vapour usage in 1985. As of 2010 some of the fittings were still in use, now using compact fluorescent bulbs. Brading signalbox closed on 28 October 1988, and the passing loop at Brading station was removed, meaning that only one platform remained in use. This meant trains could no longer run at even 30-minute intervals on the line. By 1998 the signal box and branch platforms were very overgrown and the buildings were threatened with demolition. In August 2007 Brading Town Council announced a plan to revamp the exterior of the station buildings and former signal box, and have used grants and volunteers to gradually reopen different parts of the station, with the whole of the station and signal box fully opening to the public in March 2010 for the first time in 40 years. Both the signal box and main station building are Grade II listed, along with the station building on the east platform, the footbridge, and the station house.
Services and facilities
The restored signal box and station buildings are now home to a heritage centre, café, museum and a Tourist Information Point along with a bike hire shop. No railway staff are present at the station, with tickets available from an automatic machine or from the guard on board the train. Trains for both directions leave from the same platform, as since 1988 the line has been single track. The present level of service is normally two trains per hour each way. In common with the rest of Island Line, trains currently run separated by a 20 or 40 minute gap.
Future
An announcement on 16 September 2019 confirmed that a passing loop will be reinstated at Brading to allow trains to run at regular half-hourly intervals. Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely said: I am... pleased that a new passing loop will be introduced at Brading. This will improve connectivity with cross-Solent sailings at peak times, and complements the allocated funding from Network Rail to renew Ryde Railway Pier. £1m to fund building the passing loop is from local sources with £300,000 from the Isle of Wight Council and the remainder from local businesses through the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership. A second platform will be opened to passenger use, according to the brief given to potential contractors for the work on the upgrade and the level crossing to the south of the station will be upgraded to give step-free access to the southbound platform.
