Portsmouth Direct line
Portsmouth Direct line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Hampshire West Sussex Surrey South East England
Service
Type	Suburban rail, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	South Western Railway
Rolling stock	Class 444 Class 450 Class 455[1]
History
Opened	1858
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	90 mph (145 km/h) max.

v t e Portsmouth Direct Line
Legend
South West Main Line Woking Woking carriage sidings Worplesdon North Downs Line New Guildford line Guildford Guildford Chalk Tunnel St Catherine's Hill Tunnel North Downs Line Cranleigh line Farncombe Godalming original location River Wey Godalming Milford Witley Haslemere Liphook Longmoor Military Railway Liss Midhurst Railways Petersfield Buriton Tunnel Woodcroft Halt Rowlands Castle Havant New West Coastway line Hayling Island branch line Havant Bedhampton A3(M) Farlington Halt West Coastway line Portsbridge Creek Hilsea Lines Hilsea to East Southsea Fratton Portsmouth & Southsea Portsmouth Harbour

The Portsmouth Direct line is a railway route between Woking in Surrey and Portsmouth Harbour in Hampshire, England. It forms the principal route for passenger trains between London, Guildford and Portsmouth; connections are made to the ferry services which operate between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. The final section of line from Havant to Portsmouth is shared with other passenger routes.

The line was opened in stages, in part by the Portsmouth Railway, independently of the established railway companies, the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBCSR), both of which had rather circuitous routes to Portsmouth. Both of those companies were antagonistic to the direct line, but in 1859 a through train service was operated in the face of obstructive tactics. The LBSCR controlled the route from Havant into Portsmouth, but eventually acquiesced in granting running powers, and making its line on Portsea Island, where the Portsmouth conurbation is situated, joint with the LSWR. The latter company took over the Portsmouth Railway in 1859.

The gradients on the line made it difficult to operate in steam days, but it was electrified on the third rail system in 1937. There was heavy traffic connected with the Royal Navy at Portsmouth, and with the holiday traffic to Hayling Island, Southsea and the Isle of Wight. While the former dominance of those traffics has reduced, the extension of London commuting has greatly increased, and the line conducts a busy passenger business.

History

Early proposals

Portsmouth had long been an important centre for the Royal Navy and its support activities, and for ship construction and repair; it was also an important commercial port. In 1803 R. A. Edlington drew up proposals for a horse-drawn railway between Portsmouth and London; in the same year William Jessop proposed a horse railway from Blackfriars, London to Portsmouth, in part making use of the Surrey Iron Railway. Neither of these proposals was carried forward. Other schemes for a Portsmouth to London railway were put forward over the years, including, in 1844, a planned line to use the atmospheric system of traction.^[2]

The London and Southampton Railway (L&SR) opened throughout from London (Nine Elms) to Southampton on 11 May 1840. The L&SR and commercial interests in Portsmouth shared an aspiration for a Portsmouth rail connection, and a branch was proposed to run to Portsmouth from Bishopstoke (later renamed Eastleigh) on the L&SR, running through Fareham and Cosham. A parliamentary bill was presented in 1837 for a Portsmouth Junction Railway, friendly to the L&SR, to construct it. At this time there was considerable resentment among citizens of Portsmouth against Southampton, and this played against the idea of a branch line to Portsmouth off the Southampton main line: Portsmouth would get a roundabout route to London. The corporation opposed the bill in Parliament, and it failed.^[2][3]

The L&SR now put forward a branch from Bishopstoke to Gosport, close to Portsmouth but on the west side of the waterway known as Portsmouth Harbour. Requiring only 15 miles (24 km) of new line, this was an affordable proposition. An act, the Portsmouth Floating Bridge Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. xi), had lately been passed for a ferry, referred to then as a floating bridge, across the harbour between Portsmouth and Gosport. The L&SR obtained parliamentary authorisation in the London and South Western Railway (Portsmouth Branch Railway) Act 1839 (2 & 3 Vict. c. xxviii) for its Gosport branch on 4 June 1839; section 2 of the act authorised changing the company name to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR); this was a deliberate move to ameliorate tension between the towns of Portsmouth and Southampton.^{[note 1]} The Gosport line opened on 29 November 1841.^[3][4] For the time being, Portsmouth had its railway, although not the direct line it sought.

The Railway Mania

In 1844 money supply in the United Kingdom had become easier, and for the first time railway schemes were attractive investments. This meant that the established companies were no longer secure in their own territory, as challenging new schemes promoted locally were proposed. This led to the Railway Mania of 1845 when huge numbers of railway schemes, not all of them well thought out, were put before the public.^[5]

Woking to Guildford

Guildford Junction Railway Act 1845
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for authorizing the Sale of the Guildford Junction Railway.
Citation	8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxvi
Dates
Royal assent	21 July 1845

The London and Southampton line ran through Woking, and on 10 May 1844 the Guildford Junction Railway was authorised to construct a six-mile branch from there to the important manufacturing town of Guildford. The authorised share capital was £55,000. The company was backed by the LSWR; it opened four days late (because of doubts about the stability of the tunnel at Fareham) on 5 May 1845.^{[note 2]} The Guildford Junction Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxvi) of 21 July authorised the company's absorption by the LSWR, and this was put into effect on 4 August 1845. The transfer cost the LSWR £75,000. It was the first part of the eventual Portsmouth Direct Line to become operational, although there is no evidence that this was the long-term objective.^[6][7][4]

The Guildford Junction line was planned to be laid using a novel—and almost certainly impractical—wooden permanent way system. The LSWR saw that Guildford would be a useful starting point for a railway to the south coast at Chichester, but the wooden track was an obvious objection. Nevertheless an extension to Chichester linking with a planned line from Fareham offered the best chance of defeating a proposed Direct Portsmouth Railway. On 27 September 1844 the Guildford Junction company agreed to sell to the LSWR for £75,000. The LSWR agreed, but at its own expense the Guildford Junction was to complete its single line by 1 May 1845 in conventional track instead of wood, with earthworks and bridges suitable for later doubling.^[8][4]

Brighton and Chichester Railway, extending to Portsmouth

The London and Brighton Railway had reached Shoreham-by-Sea (from Brighton) in 1844 and on 4 July the affiliated Brighton and Chichester Railway was authorised by the Brighton and Chichester Railway Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. lxvii) to extend from Shoreham to Chichester. While this was under construction, the Brighton and Chichester Railway obtained another act, the Railway from Portsmouth to Chichester Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. cxcix), on 8 August, to extend to Portsmouth. The Brighton company encouraged this, intending to get a share of the Portsmouth traffic.^[9]

Two other routes had been promoted in the same parliamentary session; one was a Guildford, Chichester and Portsmouth Railway, intended to run from the Guildford Junction line and through Godalming and Midhurst to Chichester and Portsmouth. This proposal was supported by the LSWR, but was thrown out by Parliament. At the same time the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) had authorisation for an Epsom branch from Croydon, to be worked on the atmospheric system, in which stationary engines exhausted air from a pipe laid between the rails; the leading carriage of trains carried a piston which ran in the tube, and the air pressure differential propelled the train. The L&CR now fostered a Direct London & Portsmouth Railway which would run from Epsom via Dorking and Godalming to Portsmouth. This too was unsuccessful in Parliament.^[7][10]

The Portsmouth extension of the Chichester line ran along the coast to Havant, later the site of a junction with the Portsmouth Direct Line. It ran on to make a triangular junction; the northern spur ran to Cosham, there joining an LSWR spur from its Gosport branch, facing Bishopstoke (Eastleigh). The southern spur ran to Portsmouth, where there were two platform faces at a terminus on Commercial Road; the site later became Portsmouth & Southsea station. The junctions were Farlington Junction (east), Cosham Junction (west) and Portcreek Junction (south apex). From a point just west of Cosham station to Portsmouth was jointly owned by the LSWR and the Brighton and Chichester Railway (soon to be LBSCR); the Brighton and Chichester Railway owned the line from Cosham Junction and Portcreek Junction back to Chichester; and from west of Cosham to Fareham belonged to the LSWR.^[11]

In 1846 the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) was formed by the London and Brighton Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. cclxxxiii) of 27 July; the London and Brighton Railway and the London and Croydon Railway merged to form the LBSCR. The same act authorised the combined company to acquire the Brighton and Chichester Railway.^[12] The line from Chichester to Havant was opened on 15 March 1847; from Havant to Portsmouth on 14 June 1847; and from Farlington Junction to Cosham, for goods traffic, on 26 July 1848, and for passengers on 2 January 1860. From Portcreek Junction to Cosham Junction opened for goods on 1 September 1848, and for passengers on 1 October 1848.^[13][11]

Schemes in 1846

The formation of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway shifted the supportive relations with the LSWR. Negotiations had taken place between the LSWR and the London and Brighton Railway, and the London and Croydon Railway had attributed bad faith to the LSWR. These feelings were carried into the LBSCR, and marked tension now existed between the LSWR and the LBSCR.^[14]

In Parliament, the Guildford, Chichester, Portsmouth and Fareham proposal was considerably reduced in scope and became the Guildford Extension and Portsmouth & Fareham Railway. Its act, the Guildford Extension and Portsmouth and Fareham Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. cclii) of 27 July only authorised disconnected sections from Guildford to Godalming and from Fareham to Portsea Junction.^[15] At Godalming it would form a junction with the intended Direct London and Portsmouth Railway. The act also included the power to purchase the Guildford Junction Railway and operate it as a continuous line from the LSWR at Woking to Godalming and then use running powers over the planned Direct London and Portsmouth Railway. The LSWR was authorised to acquire the company in the same act of 1846 and exercised that right by the London and South Western Railway (Portsmouth Extension and Godaming Deviation) Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. cxlv) of 9 July.^[16][4]

The Guildford to Godalming section (now part of the LSWR) opened on 15 October 1849, after a delay when the tunnel at Guildford partly collapsed. The line closed again from 22 to 24 October 1849 from the same cause.^[17]

Direct London and Portsmouth Railway

Direct London and Portsmouth Railway Act 1846
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation	9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxxiii

The Direct London and Portsmouth Railway line was authorised by the Direct London and Portsmouth Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxxiii) on 26 June 1846, to run from Epsom via Godalming to a Portsmouth terminus. For a time this seemed to be a future Portsmouth main line, but in 1847 it submitted a further bill proposing to sell its line to the LBSCR. By this time Parliament had become hostile to railway schemes floated simply to sell on to existing lines, and the bill was thrown out. This had the immediate effect of killing off the Direct London and Portsmouth company.^{[18][4][19][20]}

Portsmouth Railway

The future Portsmouth Direct Line was now in place from Woking to Godalming, and from Havant to Portsmouth & Southsea station. In 1852 the Portsmouth Railway was promoted, advancing a similar route to the Direct Portsmouth Railway, and hoping to adopt its assets; the "Direct" company was wound up by the Direct London and Portsmouth Railway Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. ccviii) of 31 July.^[21]

The Portsmouth Railway got its authorising act, the Portsmouth Railway Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. xcix) on 8 July 1853, for a 32+1⁄4 mile route from Godalming (LSWR, at a junction just north of the original terminus) to Havant (LBSCR, on the line from Chichester to Portsmouth). The LSWR and the LBSCR both opposed the scheme in Parliament. Authorised share capital was £400,000. The contractor Thomas Brassey undertook the construction. The line would make London to Portsmouth a distance of 73 miles; Waterloo—Bishopstoke—Portsmouth was 95+3⁄4 miles. (Waterloo to Gosport was about 86 miles, and London Bridge—Brighton—Portsmouth was 95+1⁄4.^[22]) Meanwhile the Portsmouth Railway directors considered how it could make a connection to an existing railway's network. The LSWR and LBSCR hostility was obvious, but the South Eastern Railway (SER) had a line not far away, just south of Guildford at Shalford; perhaps a connection to their line, and thence to London via Redhill, would be feasible. On 24 July 1854 the company got authorisation to extend northwards from Godalming to join the SER, a new line running broadly parallel to the LSWR line, and building a new south-to-east curve to join the SER.^[23]

This would have been an extremely long route to London, and in any case it was defeated when negotiations with the SER and the LBSCR for traffic running over their lines failed. It appears that the SER board had an anti-expansion policy at the time.^[24] In 1857 the Portsmouth Railway agreed with the LSWR on access to the LSWR line at Godalming to Shalford. The earthworks at Shalford forming a south to east curve to the SER line were completed, but no track was ever laid on it.^{[note 3]} Negotiations to lease the line to the LSWR foundered because of the LSWR's insistence on gaining LBSCR acquiescence,^{[note 4]} which was not forthcoming. At length however the LSWR was motivated by fear that a rival company would indeed take over the line, gaining access deep inside the LSWR territory. On 24 August 1858 the LSWR agreed to lease the Portsmouth Railway's line for £18,000 per annum.^[23][11]

The LBSCR at once protested. There were a complex of territorial and traffic-sharing agreements between the LSWR and the LBSCR, relating to the joint line at Portsmouth and elsewhere. These had lately been ignored to some extent by the LBSCR but now legal measures were threatened. So difficult did the relationship become, that the LSWR considered building an independent line at Portsmouth to escape from the joint line there. The obstruction culminated in threatened direct action when, on 1 January 1859, the LSWR Portsmouth Railway was due to open.^[25][11] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Portsmouth_Direct_line
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