Portsmouth Direct Line

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Portsmouth Direct Line

Legend London Waterloo (for intermediate stations, see SWML) Clapham Junction (for intermediate stations, see SWML) Woking South Western Main Line to Basingstoke Woking carriage sidings Worplesdon New Guildford Line North Downs Line to Reading and Alton Line Guildford St Catherine's Hill tunnel North Downs Line to Redhill Cranleigh Line to Horsham (closed) Farncombe River Wey Godalming Milford Witley Haslemere Liphook Longmoor Military Railway (closed) Liss to Midhurst (closed) Petersfield Woodcroft halt Rowlands Castle Denvilles halt West Coastway Line via Chichester Havant Bedhampton Farlington West Coastway Line via Fareham Hilsea Fratton Jessie Road Halt Portsmouth and Southsea Albert Road Halt Portsmouth Harbour East Southsea

The Portsmouth Direct Line is a railway service operated by South West Trains which runs between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour, England. Trains use the same tracks between London and a junction south of Woking as the South Western Main Line (SWML) and West of England Line, and then branch off.

Contents 1 History 2 The route 3 Rolling stock 4 Stations 5 See also 6 References

[edit] History

The earliest railway to reach Portsmouth - in reality Gosport on the opposite side of Portsmouth Harbour - was via a London and South Western Railway (LSWR) branch via Fareham to Eastleigh and thence via Winchester to London.

The first section of the direct route was opened to Guildford as the Guildford Junction Railway on 5 May 1845; the line was extended to Godalming on 15 October 1849. The line was extended to Havant in the 1850s as a speculative venture, backed by Portsmouth townspeople frustrated with the circuitous routes via Eastleigh and Brighton. The new line was taken over by the L&SWR who opened it on 28 December 1858, having already reached Portsmouth via Cosham. In order to reach it, however, trains had to use London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) metals from a junction at Havant, and the latter objected to the L&SWR trains using the line. Fighting and obstruction took place, and passengers were forced to use a horse bus from Denvilles to complete their journey, but after a legal resolution trains ran freely from 24 January 1859.

[edit] The route

Services leave London Waterloo along the South Western Main Line and fork off at Woking to take the actual Portsmouth Direct Line (see Network Rail route SW 110). It joins the West Coastway before Havant station and then diverges again at Farlington Junction to reach Portsmouth Harbour

Before electrification the route was a difficult one, since there are two summits on its 74¼-mile (120km) run. After using the River Wey valley through Guildford, the line climbs from Godalming for eight miles (13km) at 1:80/1:82 to a summit near Haslemere; the second climb is three miles (5km) near Buriton Tunnel south of Petersfield.

The route was electrified by Southern Railway in May 1937, leading to major service improvements; passenger numbers more than doubled in the following two years.

[edit] Rolling stock

As of 2007-08, services are provided by a Class 450,Class 444 or Class 455 electric ultiple unit.

[edit] Stations

Most of the stations are of similar design, possibly that of Sir William Tite the L&SWR architect.

There are closed stations at Farlington, Denvilles and Woodcroft.

[edit] See also

• London and South Western Railway

[edit] References

• R.V.J.Butt, (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd.  ISBN 1 85260 508 1

v • d • e Railway lines in South-East England: Eastern  (Kent) Primary Routes: High Speed 1 · Chatham Main Line · South Eastern Main Line Secondary Lines: Ashford-Ramsgate via Canterbury Line · East Coastway · Hastings Line · Kent Coast Line · Maidstone East Line Minor/Branch Lines: Bexleyheath Line · Bromley North Line · Catford Loop · Dartford Loop · Greenwich Line · Hayes Line · Marshlink Line · Medway Valley Line · Mid-Kent Line · North Kent Line · Nunhead to Lewisham link · Sheerness Line Central  (Sussex) Primary Routes: Arun Valley Line · Brighton Main Line · Thameslink Secondary Lines: East Coastway · New Guildford Line · North Downs Line · Redhill-Tonbridge Line · Sutton & Mole Valley Line · West Coastway Minor/Branch Lines: Caterham Line · Epsom Downs Branch · Oxted Line · Seaford Branch Line · South London Line · Tattenham Corner Line Western  (Wessex) Primary Routes: North Downs Line · Portsmouth Direct Line · South Western Main Line · West Coastway · West of England Main Line Secondary Lines: Alton Line · Ascot-Guildford Line · Chertsey Branch · Eastleigh-Fareham Line · Eastleigh-Romsey Line · Hounslow Loop · Kingston Loop Line · Waterloo-Reading Line · West London Line Minor/Branch Lines: Chessington Branch · Greenford Branch · Hampton Court Branch · Henley Branch Line · Island Line · Lymington Branch Line · Marlow Branch Line · Shepperton Branch Line · Slough-Windsor & Eton Line · Staines-Windsor & Eton Line Northern  (Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire) Primary Routes: West Coast Main Line · Chiltern Main Line Secondary Lines: London to Aylesbury Line · Cherwell Valley Line · Cotswold Line Minor/Branch Lines: Marston Vale Line · Oxford to Bicester Line · Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line · Varsity Line (currently partially disused)