SOUTH WESTERN MAIN LINE

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The 'South Western Main Line' is the from London Waterloo to Weymouth on the Dorset coast.
The line between London and Basingstoke is shared with the West of England Main Line.
Many sections of the line are relatively high-speed, with large stretches cleared for 100mph running.

Contents

History

Railway stations on the South Western Main Line to Southampton

Major settlements on route

Electrification

Services

External Links

Bibliography

History

:''See London & South Western Railway''
The first section to be opened was from Nine Elms, the LSWR's first London terminus in the suburban parish of Battersea, to Woking (then named ''Woking Common'') on 21 May 1838.
The remainder of the main line followed over the next two years:

★ Woking to Winchfield (''Shapley Heath''): 24 September 1838

★ Winchester to Southampton: 10 June 1839

★ Winchfield to Basingstoke: 10 June 1839

★ Basingstoke to Winchester: 11 May 1840. This last section was the most difficult on the route with an initial climb to ''Litchfield Tunnel'' and a ten-mile down-grade to Winchester.

Railway stations on the South Western Main Line to Southampton

The stations on the main route (with dates of opening if not original L&SWR) are:

★ Vauxhall

★ Queenstown Road (Battersea), opened 1 November 1877 as ''Queens Road''

★ Clapham Junction

★ Earlsfield, opened in 1884

★ Wimbledon

★ Raynes Park, opened in 1871

★ Malden: after several renamings now called New Malden, opened in 1846

★ Berrylands, opened 16 October 1933 to serve new suburban traffic

★ Surbiton (originally ''Kingston'')

★ Esher

★ Hersham, opened in 1936

★ Walton-on-Thames

★ Weybridge

★ West Weybridge railway station, renamed as Byfleet & New Haw

★ Byfleet — reopened in 1927 as West Byfleet

★ Woking

★ Brookwood, opened in 1864

★ Farnborough

★ Fleet: originally opened as Fleet Pond in 1847

★ Winchfield

★ Hook, opened in 1883

★ Basingstoke

★ Micheldever: originally ''Andover Road'', opened in 1840

★ Winchester

★ Shawford: was ''Shawford & Twyford'', opened in 1882

★ Eastleigh: originally Bishopstoke

★ Southampton Airport (Parkway): originally opening as the Atlantic Park Hostel Halt in 1929

★ Swaythling, opened in 1883

★ St Denys, opened in 1861

★ Southampton Central

Major settlements on route

The main towns served by the route, starting from London, are:

★ London Waterloo

★ Clapham Junction

★ Woking

★
★ Connections with Portsmouth Direct Line to Guildford, Haslemere, Petersfield and Portsmouth

★ Brookwood

★
★ Connections with Alton Line to Aldershot, Farnham and Alton

★ Farnborough

★ Fleet

★ Basingstoke

★
★ Connections with West of England Main Line to Salisbury and Exeter

★ Micheldever

★ Winchester

★ Eastleigh

★
★ Connections for lines to Fareham and Romsey

★ Southampton Airport (Parkway)

★ Southampton

★
★ Connections with West Coastway Line to Portsmouth, Chichester and Brighton

★
★ Connections with Wessex Main Line to Salisbury, Westbury, Bath and Bristol

★ Totton

★ Beaulieu

★ Brockenhurst

★
★ Connections with branch line to Lymington for ferry to the Isle of Wight

★ Christchurch

★ Bournemouth

★ Poole

★ Wareham

★ Wool

★ Dorchester

★
★ Connections with Heart of Wessex Line

★ Upwey

★ Weymouth

Electrification

The suburban portion of the line, as far as the junction for Alton, was electrified (750v DC third rail) by the London & South Western Railway and its successor, the Southern Railway, prior to World War II.
The main portion of the line to Southampton and Bournemouth was electrified in 1967. Electrification was extended to Weymouth in 1988 and saw the introduction of the new Class 442 'Wessex Electric' trains.

Services

The majority of passenger services are currently operated by South West Trains, with an hourly service departing Weymouth on the hour and Waterloo at 35 minutes past the hour; additional trains operate from Wareham to Winchester, stopping at all stations. Virgin Trains services between the Midlands and Bournemouth join the South Western Main Line at Basingstoke.

External Links

★ Ordnance Survey [1]

Bibliography

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

★ Railways of Dorset, J.H. Lucking ,, , , Railway Correspondence and travel Society 1968, , ISBN(no ISBN)