When the Southampton and Dorchester Railway (S&DR) was opened on 1 June 1847, Wool was one of the original stations on the line. The line was originally built with a single track but no telegraph, with the result that there was a head-on collision between Wool and on 27 September 1847; casualties were light. The S&DR was amalgamated into the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) on 11 October 1848, and that company doubled the line in stages: the section from to Wool was doubled on 1 June 1863, and the double track was extended from Wool to Dorchester on 1 August 1863.