[2] The station is managed by South Western Railway who operate the majority of services, including frequent trains between here and London Waterloo, Weymouth and Portsmouth & Southsea.

Other operators are CrossCountry (providing services between here and Bournemouth, Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly), Great Western Railway (between here and Portsmouth Harbour, Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central) and Southern (linking Southampton with Havant, Chichester, Worthing and Brighton).

The new land and the demand for new lines allowed the station to be enlarged and redeveloped in 1934–1935 (from two platforms to four) and it became Southampton Central.

[6] In 1967, soon after the closure of Southampton Terminus, the station was rebuilt, losing its clocktower which was replaced with an office block.

[7] A partnership between Network Rail, South West Trains and Southampton City Council saw a £3 million investment in the refurbishment of the station entrances and improved passenger facilities which was completed in 2012.

[8] In December 2007, a number of changes were made to South West Trains, First Great Western and Southern services.

As of December 2023[update], an hourly CrossCountry train runs from Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly, via Coventry, calling at Southampton Central.

There were also around six trains per day in each direction on the Reading to Newcastle route, via Doncaster, which occasionally extended to Southampton Central, but no longer operates.