81-615: South West Main Line 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
162-523: A Portsmouth to London railway were put forward over the years, including, in 1844, a planned line to use the atmospheric system of traction . 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
243-529: 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
324-402: A goods train, two engines and about eighty men, and demanded passage along the line, threatening the switchman with immediate imprisonment unless he gave up the tongue of the points. He, however, refused and they then placed eight or ten men on our engine [that was blocking the way]... and shunted the engine aside. They then drew their own train along our up road through the station, crossing on to
405-523: 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
486-749: A new design of four-car express unit; they were provided with corridors throughout, including from one unit to the next when running in multiple formations. Restaurant facilities were provided in most express trains, which generally ran as twelve coach trains, formed 4-COR + 4-RES + 4-COR. The 4-RES units had restaurant facilities; 19 were built; there were 29 units designated 4-COR, without catering facilities. These were designated class 404 in British Railways days. The outer vehicles in each set were motor coaches, equipped with two 225 hp (168 kW) English Electric motors, and English Electric electro-pneumatic control equipment. For stopping trains (including on
567-577: 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. 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;
648-545: A share of the Portsmouth traffic. 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
729-427: A similar attempt at any time, and I have accordingly been obliged to remain at Havant with two engines and men to watch their proceedings. Whether physical violence took place is uncertain, but with numerous employees on each side and tempers running high it is likely that scuffles broke out. The Portsmouth Railway opened to Havant only, on 1 January 1859 and the issue of through running went to an arbitrator; his award
810-556: 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. The future Portsmouth Direct Line was now in place from Woking to Godalming, and from Havant to Portsmouth & Southsea station. In 1852
891-429: Is no evidence that this was the long-term objective. 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
SECTION 10
#1732858820246972-482: 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
1053-489: The Great Western Railway and the nascent Midland began to buy up strategic failed lines to expand their network. These lines could be purchased at a fraction of their real value as given a choice between a below-value offer for their shares or the total loss of their investment, shareholders naturally chose the former. Many middle-class families on modest incomes had sunk their entire savings into new companies during
1134-560: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (the L&;M), opened in 1830 and proved to be successful for transporting both passengers and freight. In the late 1830s and early 1840s, the British economy slowed. Interest rates rose, making it more attractive to invest money in government bonds—the main source of investment at the time—and political and social unrest deterred banks and businesses from investing
1215-487: The North Eastern Railway ). These projects all required vast amounts of capital, all of which had to be raised from private enterprise. The speculative frenzy of the mania made people much more willing to invest the large sums required for railway construction than they had been previously or would be in later years. Even many of the routes that failed when the mania collapsed became viable (if not lucrative) when each
1296-645: 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. 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
1377-638: The Railway Mania of 1845 when huge numbers of railway schemes, not all of them well thought out, were put before the public. The London and Southampton line ran through Woking, and on 10 May 1844 the Guildford Junction Railway was authorised by the Guildford Junction Railway Act 1844 ( 7 & 8 Vict. c. v) to construct a six-mile branch from there to the important manufacturing town of Guildford. The authorised share capital
1458-481: The 1850s and 1860s saw smaller booms in railway construction, but these never reached anywhere near the scale of the mania—partly because of more thoughtful (if still very limited) government control, partly because of more cautious investors and partly because the UK railway network was approaching maturity, with none of the 'blank canvas' available to numerous companies as in the 1840s. Unlike some stock market bubbles , there
1539-689: The Alton line), 38 two-car units designated 2-BIL were produced; these had side corridors and lavatories, but no corridor connection between the coaches. They had one control trailer coach and one motor coach equipped with two 275 hp (205 kW) motors and Metropolitan-Vickers control equipment. New maintenance sheds were provided at Fratton (and also at Wimbledon and Farnham ); the Fratton shed had four roads each capable of holding eight cars. Electric trains started running to steam train timings to Guildford from 3 January 1937, and Portsmouth & Southsea station
1620-484: The Bank of England increased interest rates. As banks began to re-invest in bonds, the money began to flow out of railways, undercutting the boom. The share prices of railways slowed in their rise, then leveled out. As they began to fall, investment stopped virtually overnight , leaving numerous companies without funding and numerous investors with no prospect of any return on their investment. The larger railway companies such as
1701-666: 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
SECTION 20
#17328588202461782-611: The Harbour station, but other trains terminated at the Town station. Other improvements were undertaken at this period: the line between Godalming Junction and Havant was doubled from 1875: the dates were: When the Portsmouth Railway was constructed, it bypassed the original Godalming terminus, although a passenger service to it was retained for the time being. It was closed to passengers on 1 May 1897. The Southern Railway , as successor to
1863-497: 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
1944-516: 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. The LSWR decided to force the issue by running a goods train on 28 December 1858; it arrived at Havant at about 07:00 while it
2025-461: 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. 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
2106-499: 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. 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
2187-417: The LSWR, had embarked on a series of electrification schemes, and these had had a remarkable effect on improved business and reduced costs. After the successful implementation of such schemes between London and Brighton, and Hastings , it was decided to electrify through to Portsmouth. This was to be the longest route so far undertaken. The scheme was announced in 1935; at this time the main line from Waterloo
2268-541: The LSWR. The first route from London to Portsmouth, actually Gosport, had been 89 miles in length. When the Brighton and Chichester Railway was extended to Portsmouth, the route from London Bridge via Brighton (reversing there) was 95 miles. The LBSCR, successor to the Chichester company, promoted an affiliate company, the Mid-Sussex Railway , which completed a route from Horsham to Arundel Junction, about ten miles east of Chichester. It opened in 1863. At first Horsham
2349-589: 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. In Parliament, the Guildford, Chichester, Portsmouth and Fareham proposal
2430-544: 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. 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. The formation of
2511-700: The North and Midlands by amalgamating small railway companies and rationalising routes. He was also an MP, but ultimately failed because of his fraudulent practices of, for example, paying dividends from capital . As with other bubbles , the Railway Mania became a self-promoting cycle based purely on over-optimistic speculation. As the dozens of companies formed began to operate and the simple unviability of many of them became clear, investors began to realise that railways were not all as lucrative and as easy to build as they had been led to believe. Coupled to this, in late 1845
Portsmouth Direct line - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-451: The Portsmouth Railway route, continuing to run good services to Gosport. In fact the LSWR wanted to avoid the route overshadowing the longer original route via Bishopstoke, and Direct Line passenger services remained slow and infrequent. The working timetable for April 1865 shows only four passenger trains and one goods train per day on the line. The Portsmouth terminus of the line was at the present-day Portsmouth & Southsea station. There
2673-551: 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
2754-546: 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
2835-439: 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. The Portsmouth extension of
2916-601: The basic train service remained unaltered for many years, but in 1971 was changed to one fast, one semi-fast and one stopping train per hour. Additional stops were later added to the semi-fast train. This pattern continued into the 1990s, but by 1996 it had changed to two fast trains per hour from Waterloo, a semi-fast and an hourly shuttle from Guildford to Haslemere. The October 2022 shows an off-peak pattern of an hourly fast train from Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour, and hourly stopping train to Portsmouth & Southsea, and an hourly semi-fast train to Haslemere. From 1970 to 2004,
2997-467: 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. The London and Brighton Railway had reached Shoreham-by-Sea (from Brighton) in 1844 and on 4 July
3078-493: The bill in Parliament, and it failed. 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
3159-432: The bubble collapsed and the companies called in the remainder of their due payments. The British government promoted an almost totally ' laissez-faire ' system of non-regulation in the railways. Companies had to submit a bill to Parliament to gain the right to acquire land for the line, which required the route of the proposed railway to be approved, but there were no limits on the number of companies and no real checks on
3240-708: The class 444 on both Portsmouth and Poole services. the Class 442s were withdrawn from service in March 2021. South West Main Line Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 760949580 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:40:20 GMT Railway Mania Railway Mania
3321-480: 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. 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
Portsmouth Direct line - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-644: The corresponding express. Alton portions ran with the stopping trains, being detached at Woking. The new service was a considerable success, and this was particularly so for the summer holiday traffic; the express service was modified on summer Saturdays to give good connections to the Isle of Wight and to Hayling Island. In 1947 the line carried 7.25 million passengers, compared to 3 million in 1936. The summer Saturday timetable gave four fast restaurant-car trains an hour from 07:45 to 16:50; even on summer Sunday mornings there were three fast trains an hour. After electrification,
3483-481: The down line, blocking both up and down roads. In the meantime, we had removed a piece of rail from our own down line to the west of the crossing, effectually preventing them from proceeding. I suggested to [the LSWR manager] that, having now endeavoured to force their way through and being resisted also by force, whether he had not done enough to enable them to try the right before a proper tribunal, and requested him to withdraw. This he refused, and as I refused to replace
3564-413: The end of Portsmouth High Street, not tramway connected. The entire arrangement was still highly unsatisfactory and in 1872 an extension line and pier similar to the present-day locations was independently promoted. It failed in Parliament but the LSWR and the LBSCR put forward their own extension and pier in the 1873 session. The Joint Portsmouth Railway Extension Act 1873 ( 36 & 37 Vict. c. cxviii)
3645-500: The fast services. Since 2007, services had been provided mostly by Class 444 , supported by Class 450 , electric multiple units. Unusually, the 450s, designed for stopping services, run certain fast services on Monday to Friday and most services on Saturday. This has led to complaints by people who disliked the high density 3+2 seating in some parts of these trains. From January 2020, following an extended cascading process, partially refitted class 442 'Wessex Electrics' started to bolster
3726-414: The financial viability of a line. Anyone could form a company, gain investment and submit a bill to Parliament. Since many Members of Parliament (MPs) were heavy investors in such schemes, it was rare for a bill to not pass during the peak of the mania in 1846, although Parliament did reject schemes that were blatantly misleading or impossible to construct. Magnates like George Hudson developed routes in
3807-432: The formation of new business ventures and, importantly, had limited joint stock companies to a maximum of five separate investors. With these limits removed, anyone could invest money (and hopefully earn a return) on a new company, and railways were heavily promoted as a foolproof venture. New media such as newspapers and the emergence of the modern stock market made it easy for companies to promote themselves and provide
3888-557: The huge sums of money required to build railways; the L&M cost £637,000 (£55,210,000 adjusted for 2015). By the mid-1840s, the economy was improving and the manufacturing industries were once again growing. The Bank of England cut interest rates, making government bonds less attractive investments, and existing railway companies' shares began to boom as they moved ever-increasing amounts of cargo and people, making people willing to invest in new railways. Crucially, there were more investors in British business. The Industrial Revolution
3969-487: The installation and deployment of a vast amount of fibre-optic telecommunications infrastructure, spurred on from the realisation that the same railway rights-of-way could make affordable conduits for fibre optics. Yet another boom occurred in the period 1995–2000, during the development of the Internet , when many companies were established to promote new services on the growing network. The dot-com bubble collapsed in 2000, and
4050-429: The line was leased to the LSWR by them – demanded an increase in the rental charge. This was declined and eventually the status quo was agreed; in fact the Portsmouth Railway was amalgamated with the LSWR by the London and South Western and Portsmouth Railways Amalgamation Act 1859 ( 22 & 23 Vict. c. xxxi) of 21 July. The hostility with the LBSCR could hardly continue indefinitely and in early August 1859, agreement
4131-431: The mania, and they lost everything when the speculation collapsed. The boom-and-bust cycle of early-industrial Britain was still in effect, and the boom that had created the conditions for Railway Mania began to cool and then a decline set in. The number of new railway companies fell away to almost nothing in the late 1840s and early 1850s, with the only new lines constructed being by the large companies. Economic upturns in
SECTION 50
#17328588202464212-470: The means for the general public to invest. Shares could be purchased for a 10% deposit, with the railway company holding the right to call in the remainder at any time. The railways were so heavily promoted as a foolproof venture that thousands of investors on modest incomes bought large numbers of shares, whilst only being able to afford the deposit. Many families invested their entire savings in prospective railway companies—and many of those lost everything when
4293-561: 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. The Guildford to Godalming section (now part of
4374-463: The predominant rolling stock consisted of the Class 421 (4CIG) and Class 423 (4VEP) units, with fast trains up to the early 1990s also including a Class 412 (4BEP) buffet unit in the centre of the 12-car consist ( Class 422 (4BIG) before mid-1983). Some peak trains were augmented using 2-car Class 414 (2HAP) units until 1991. During most of the 1990s, Class 442 "Wessex Electric" units operated most of
4455-413: The proposed routes totalling 9,500 miles (15,300 km). About a third of the railways authorised were never built—the companies either collapsed because of poor financial planning, were bought out by larger competitors before they could build their line, or turned out to be fraudulent enterprises to channel investors' money into other businesses. The world's first recognizably modern inter-city railway,
4536-514: The rails or allow them to proceed, matters remained in this condition until about 1.0 pm. I worked the traffic over the line between Havant and Portsmouth on the one side and Havant and Emsworth on the other, by bringing empty trains and engines on both sides of the obstruction and getting the passengers across on foot... At 1.0 pm [the LSWR Manager] made up his mind to withdraw under protest... They further refused to pledge themselves not to make
4617-448: The refusal to grant its injunction, and in April 1859 reserved judgment was given in favour of the LBSCR position: LSWR trains over the direct route had to be discontinued, and LSWR trains had to be terminated before Havant, at a temporary station immediately north of Havant LBSCR, with the passengers being conveyed on to Portsmouth by road. Remarkably the shareholders of the Portsmouth Railway –
4698-433: The return run making the standard stops for the new train service with one additional stop at Surbiton accomplished the journey in 99 minutes. There had been some concern about the ability to keep time as the 12-car trains had slightly less installed power than the corresponding earlier Brighton line formations and the hilly route was more challenging, but these concerns proved unnecessary. A speed of 78 mph (126 km)
4779-399: The time. 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. Negotiations to lease the line to the LSWR foundered because of the LSWR's insistence on gaining LBSCR acquiescence, which was not forthcoming. At length however
4860-521: The towns of Portsmouth and Southampton. The Gosport line opened on 29 November 1841. For the time being, Portsmouth had its railway, although not the direct line it sought. 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
4941-503: Was a stock market bubble in the rail transportation industry of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more money, which further increased the price of railway shares, until the share price collapsed. The mania reached its zenith in 1846, when 263 Acts of Parliament for setting up new railway companies were passed, with
SECTION 60
#17328588202465022-580: Was a net tangible result from all the investment: a vast expansion of the British railway system , though perhaps at an inflated cost. Amongst the high number of impractical, overambitious and downright fraudulent schemes promoted during the mania were a good number of practical trunk routes (most notably the initial part of the Great Northern Railway and the trans-Pennine Woodhead route ) and important freight lines (such as large parts of what would become
5103-519: Was about 86 miles, and London Bridge—Brighton—Portsmouth was 95 + 1 ⁄ 4 .) 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
5184-427: Was considerable ferry traffic to the Isle of Wight and to Gosport, involving road transfers through the streets of Portsmouth. Southsea was developing as an important resort, and it too was remote from the Portsmouth station. In 1859 the Portsmouth council promoted a tramway, but this scheme, together with some other, independent, proposals, failed. Southsea Pier was opened in 1861, on the southern side of Portsmouth; it
5265-572: 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. At Godalming it would form a junction with the intended Direct London and Portsmouth Railway. The act also included
5346-489: Was creating a new, increasingly affluent middle class . While earlier business ventures had relied on a small number of banks , businessmen and wealthy aristocrats for investment, a prospective railway company also had a large, literate section of population with savings to invest. In 1825 the government had repealed the Bubble Act , brought in during the near-disastrous South Sea Bubble of 1720, which had put close limits on
5427-524: Was electrified as far as Hampton Court Junction, so the work was to be from there via Woking and Guildford to Portsmouth Harbour. Loans at low interest rates were made available by the government, under the Railways (Agreement) Act 1935 ( 26 Geo. 5 & 1 Edw. 8 . c. 6). Haslemere, Havant, Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour stations were all greatly enlarged to give 800 feet (244 m) platform lengths to handle twelve-car trains. Resignalling
5508-417: 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. Portsmouth had long been an important centre for
5589-416: Was first reached by an electric service on 8 March 1937. There was a Royal Navy Fleet Review at Portsmouth on 20 May 1937 to commemorate the coronation of King George VI , and twenty 12-car special electric trains ran between London and Portsmouth in connection, in addition to the ordinary steam service. On 1 July 1937 an official inaugural run took place to Portsmouth & Southsea, reached in 91 minutes, and
5670-443: Was in the hands of the larger company that had purchased it. A total of 6,220 miles (10,010 km) of railway line were built as a result of projects authorised between 1844 and 1846—by comparison, the total route mileage of the modern UK railway network is around 11,000 miles (18,000 km). Railway and Canal Mania can be compared with a similar mania in the 1990s in the stock of telecom companies . The telecom mania resulted in
5751-414: Was later renamed Clarence Pier . An independent Landport & Southsea Tramway built a horse-drawn street-running line from the Portsmouth station to Clarence Pier and this became the main embarkation point for train to ferry passengers; the tram conveyed a luggage trolley vehicle, and it had first and second class accommodation. The Clarence Pier tramway opened on 15 May 1865. There was a Victoria Pier at
5832-411: Was never actually done. Through running of Portsmouth Railway trains started on 24 January 1859, tolerated by the LBSCR without prejudice to its legal position, pending further negotiations. The negotiations made no progress whatever, and in March 1859 the LBSCR introduced new through trains with very low fares. The LSWR soon retaliated with its own new trains and low fares. The LBSCR had appealed against
5913-410: 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
5994-517: Was passed on 7 July 1873, for a line climbing steeply at first from Portsmouth station to a point south of The Hard. It was 1 mile 6 chains (1.08 miles, 1.73 km) in length. An additional £120,000 of share capital was authorised, and there were to be two short branches for the naval authorities, to Watering Island Jetty and to the Old Gun Wharf. The extension was opened to traffic on 2 October 1876, and London trains generally now used
6075-445: Was reached via Three Bridges but the line from Leatherhead to Horsham completed the route in 1877. The London and South Western and Portsmouth Railways Amalgamation Act 1859 ( 22 & 23 Vict. c. xxxi), authorising amalgamation of the LSWR and the Portsmouth Railway, had included clauses specifying a minimum passenger service: six daily in summer and four daily in winter. For some years the LSWR provided only this minimum service on
6156-563: Was reached; a new pooling arrangement for passenger fares being agreed, as was rental for use of the joint line. Through trains over the Portsmouth Railway route resumed on 8 August 1859. On 2 January 1860 the Farlington Junction to Cosham Junction section, on which the track had been removed by the LBSCR in the face of the disagreement, was reinstated and four passenger trains daily used it. The Havant to Portcreek Junction section remained in LBSCR ownership, but running powers were granted to
6237-412: Was recorded descending Witley bank. Full public services started on 4 July 1937. The standard off-peak service was one express train per hour and two stopping. The express called at Guildford, Haslemere, Portsmouth & Southsea and ran to Portsmouth Harbour; the stopping trains called at Surbiton and then all stations to Portsmouth & Southsea; one stopping train per hour was overtaken at Guildford by
6318-417: Was rejected, and the LBSCR obtained an injunction, preventing the LSWR from using the joint line. However, when the injunction came before Vice Chancellor Wood on 19 January 1859 he refused the restraining order, but did not adjudicate on the terms of use of the line. During the course of legal proceedings an order was given that the line throughout from Havant should be made part of the joint railway, but this
6399-550: Was still dark, with about 80 workmen on board. The LBSCR had removed the switch tongue of the Portsmouth Railway down line at the junction, so the goods train was crossed to the up line to by-pass it, but it was again stopped in Havant station by the removal of another rail section, now blocking all lines. The LBSCR local manager reported: About 7.0 am this morning, the Direct Portsmouth people... arrived at Havant junction with
6480-491: Was undertaken at Woking Junction and Havant, but complete resignalling was not thought to be needed. Partial signalling improvements were commissioned in June and July 1937, and the electric train service started on 4 July 1937, although numerous trial runs had already been undertaken. A fleet of 312 new or rebuilt vehicles were provided for the entire scheme, which included routes to Alton and Staines . Fast services were operated by
6561-472: 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. 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
#245754