South Western Main Line

South Western Main Line
South West Trains Class 444 at Poole
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, Suburban rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London Surrey Hampshire Dorset South East England South West England
Termini	London Waterloo Weymouth
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	South West Trains CrossCountry
Depot(s)	Clapham Junction Wimbledon Earlsfield Northam Bournemouth
Rolling stock	Class 444 "Desiro" Class 450 "Desiro" Class 455 Class 220 "Voyager" Class 221 "Super Voyager"
Technical
Track gauge	Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	750 V DC third rail
Operating speed	100 mph (160 km/h) maximum
Route map Legend SEML ◄ C X -- W'loo East -- L Bridge ► W'loo Int'l (1994-2007)   Waterloo International Junction London Necropolis stations (1902-1941), (1854-1902) Vauxhall Victoria line Nine Elms station (1838-1848) and Works (1839-1860s) Linford curve, built for Eurostar ◄ Victoria Served by Southern and Southeastern CML Queenstown Road (Battersea) ◄ To Victoria Served by Southern ◄ West London Line Served by LO and Southern More detailed track in this area is shown here Clapham Junction Brighton Main Line Waterloo to Reading Line Wandsworth (renamed Clapham Common) (1838-1863) Earlsfield Wimbledon Traincare depotStaff platform LU District line, also used as SWT diversionary route Sutton Loop towards Haydons Road Wimbledon Tramlink Sutton Loop towards Wimbledon Chase Wimbledon L&SWR 1838 site Raynes Park To Mole Valley Line and Chessington branch line New Malden Kingston Loop Berrylands Kingston L&SWR 1838 site Surbiton New Guildford Line Hampton Court Line Esher Hersham Walton-on-Thames Weybridge Chertsey Branch Line Byfleet & New Haw M25 motorway West Byfleet Woking Portsmouth Direct Line Brookwood Cemetery South Brookwood Cemetery North Brookwood Brookwood Necropolis Railway (1854-1941) Bisley Camp (1890-1952) WWI to Deepcut, WWII to Pirbright Alton Line Ascot to Aldershot Line North Downs Line Farnborough (Main) Bramshot Halt (1913-1946) Fleet Winchfield Hook River Loddon Reading to Basingstoke Line Basingstoke Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway Park Prewett Railway (1913-1954) Worting Junction Battledown Flyover West of England Main Line Litchfield Tunnel 198 yards (181 m) Popham No 1 Tunnel 265 yards (242 m) Popham No 2 Tunnel 199 yards (182 m) Micheldever Oil Terminal Micheldever Wallers' Ash Tunnel Winchester Junction Watercress Line Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Line Winchester Shawford Eastleigh to Romsey Line Eastleigh Eastleigh to Fareham Line Eastleigh Works Southampton Airport Parkway Swaythling West Coastway Line St Denys Northam Traincare Depot Northam (1872-1966) Civic Centre Tunnel Southampton Terminus (1840-1966) Southampton Docks Southampton Central Millbrook Southampton Western Docks Southampton Container Terminals Redbridge Wessex Main Line River Test Totton Fawley Branch Line Ashurst New Forest Beaulieu Road A337 Brockenhurst Lymington Branch Line Southampton and Dorchester Railway Sway New Milton Hinton Admiral Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway Christchurch Pokesdown Boscombe (1897-1965) Bournemouth East (1870-1885) Bournemouth Meyrick Park Halt (1906-1917) Bournemouth West (1874-1965) Bournemouth Traincare Depot Branksome Parkstone Parkstone Pottery Tramway (?-1967). To Salterns Pier (?-1922) Poole Poole Quay Line Somerset and Dorset Railway Holes Bay Causeway Southampton and Dorchester Railway Hamworthy Hamworthy Freight Branch Royal Navy Cordite Factory Holton Heath Sibley Pottery Line Wareham Furzebrook Oil Terminal Swanage Railway Bovington Camp branch Wool UKAEA Sidings Winfrith Moreton Original Dorchester Station Dorchester South Line to Exeter planned, not built Great Western Line to Yeovil Dorchester West Dorchester Junction Monkton and Came Halt (1905-1957) Bincombe Tunnel Upwey Wishing Well Halt (1905-1957) Upwey (First site) (1871-1886) Abbotsbury branch (1885-1952) Upwey Radipole Halt (1905-1984) Portland Branch (1902-1952 [px], -1965 [goods]) Weymouth Weymouth Harbour Tramway Weymouth Quay

The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth. It runs through Greater London, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset.

It has many branches, including the lines to Windsor and Reading (the "Windsor lines"), Dorking, Guildford, Portsmouth, Kingston-upon-Thames and the West of England Main Line, which shares the route between London and Basingstoke. Together with these, it forms part of the network built by London and South Western Railway, which today is mostly operated by South West Trains. Network Rail refer to it as the South West Mainline.

Many sections of the line are relatively high-speed, with large stretches cleared for 100 mph (160 km/h) running. The London end of the line has as many as eight tracks, but this narrows to four throughout most of the London suburbs and continues this way until Worting Junction near Basingstoke, from where most of the remainder of the line is two tracks. A couple of miles from the Waterloo terminus, the line runs alongside the Brighton Main Line, both lines pass through Clapham Junction - the busiest station in Europe (and one of the busiest in the world) by railway traffic.

Incentive

Main article: London and South Western Railway

Several companies had proposed building a faster link from London to the South Coast around Southampton, which would have provided not only a route for transport but an important link in the event of war. At the time, Southampton was smaller than the nearby port of Portsmouth, but since Portsmouth's harbour was already used due to naval operations, Southampton was chosen as it had plenty of space for development.

An engineer had proposed the building a canal, but this was turned down due to being far too expensive. In 1831, a group of businessmen met together to discuss the possibility of a railway. As well as the line to Southampton, the company was also interested in building a line from halfway down their route towards Bristol via Newbury and Devizes. The company called itself the Southampton, London & Branch Railway and Docks Company.

The chosen route to Southampton was far from direct, as the route had been directed through the small market town of Basingstoke where the Bristol line would have left, and it missed major towns such as Guildford and Alton which would have been major revenue sources if the route had been more direct.

However, another company, the Great Western Railway, proposed a more direct route to Bristol, which stopped at several major towns, whereas the Southampton railway was mostly rural apart from the county town of Winchester. The GWR was approved, as was the Southampton railway (now unable to build the Bristol line) soon after. Despite the Bristol plan being made redundant, the company did not change its route. From then on, the Southampton railway and the Great Western Railway were often in competition with each other.

Construction

London and Southampton Railway
Legend London Nine Elms Wandsworth Wimbledon Kingston Ditton Marsh Walton Weybridge Woking Common Farnborough Shapley Heath Basingstoke Andover Road Winchester Bishopstoke Northam Road Southampton

The first section to be opened was from Nine Elms, the LSWR's first London terminus in 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.

Branches and extensions

To Portsmouth

The line proved successful, and it was not long before the company, renamed as London and South Western Railway due to their new plans, decided to expand. In 1848, the railway was extended from the Nine Elms terminus to the new station at Waterloo in the centre of London.

In 1865, another line was built from Guildford to Portsmouth which was more direct than the existing route.

The Mid Hants Railway

The original line proved far from direct. A secondary route had been planned via Guildford, Farnham and Alton from Woking to Winchester, which was more direct and served some other towns. This was built around the 1850s. The current route of the line from Brookwood to Farnham via Aldershot was built in 1870. The Guildford route was later closed.

The railway was often nicknamed 'The Watercress Line' due to the fact many communities on the line grew watercress. Although National Rail services only operate as far as Alton, a preserved line operates between Alton and Alresford known as the Mid Hants Watercress Line. The final section between Alresford and Winchester is closed, and is unlikely to re-open as housing and the M3 motorway have been built across the trackbed.

To Salisbury and Devon

A line was built from Bishopstoke (now Eastleigh) to Salisbury, then another was built from Basingstoke via Andover and became the first part of the West of England Main Line. The line ran via Yeovil to Exeter, then onwards via the north of Dartmoor to Plymouth (the GWR ran on the opposite side of Dartmoor).

The South Western Railway often contested with the Great Western Railway over trains to Devon, although the Great Western Railway's line from Reading to Taunton was later preferred by British Railways over the West of England Main Line.

The Southampton and Dorchester Railway

The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was also formed and built a line from 1845 to 1847 from Southampton to Dorchester. At the time it avoided Bournemouth, which was at the time barely a village, and ran via towns such as Ringwood before reaching Dorchester. The winding route, which followed the easiest to construct links, rather than linking main settlements in a straight line was known as 'Castleman's Corkscrew' after Edward Castleman, who was a major figure in the enterprise. The line was originally planned to continue towards Exeter, but this never came into effect. In 1865 the railway was extended south to Weymouth, the current terminus of the line. Later, as Bournemouth was developed as a seaside resort, a line was built to run via Bournemouth, which became the main line. The Ringwood line was later closed by the Beeching Axe.

Rival and long distance Lines

The L&SWR's biggest rival was the Great Western Railway (GWR) who had originally cut the L&SWR's plans by building the line to Bristol. Both companies built several railways from their own networks into each other's territory.

In 1848, the GWR built a branch from Reading to Basingstoke. At first this was a fairly quiet railway which terminated at a separate terminus to the L&SWR's mainline station. However, when the rival company adopted standard gauge, a link was constructed between the two lines. This later became used for a freight route from Southampton to the Midlands via Oxford. Following the closure of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, this route became used by long-distance services from Bournemouth to the Midlands.

Another line was built in 1873 (from Didcot and Newbury to Southampton). Originally, L&SWR ruled out allowing the line to use its own track but, after it fell into financial difficulties, it ended up joining the main line south of Winchester. The company also proposed building a line from Reading to Portsmouth via Basingstoke and Alton but the L&SWR found a cheaper solution for building the first stretch from Basingstoke to Alton by using a light railway. The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway stopped the Portsmouth line from being built at the expense of being unprofitable and short-lived.

Major settlements on route

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

• London
• Woking
• Farnborough
• Fleet
• Basingstoke
• Winchester
• Eastleigh
• Southampton
• Totton
• Christchurch
• Bournemouth
• Poole
• Dorchester
• Weymouth

Infrastructure

Track

Between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction, the line has as many as eight tracks, with four pairs of tracks. It crosses beneath the Chatham Main Line where the Brighton Main Line runs alongside it on the southern side. At Clapham Junction, some of these tracks leave on the Waterloo to Reading Line and the remaining tracks are reduced to four. The Brighton Line, which also has four tracks, separates from it shortly afterwards.

The four tracks initially have a pair of "slow" tracks to the east with the two "fast" tracks on the western side. This arrangement continues to north of Wimbledon where a flyover transfers the northbound slow line across the fast lines, leaving the inner tracks being used for the fast services and the stopping services using the outer tracks. This arrangement continues to Worting Junction, just after Basingstoke. Many stations on this section had island platforms which have since been removed - this is evident with wide gaps between station platforms such as at Winchfield. The island platforms survive at Esher and Walton-on-Thames, with the latter covered in weeds.

The line continues as double-track to Winchester but expands to three tracks through Shawford station with one up platform and fast and slow down platforms. There are four tracks from Shawford to Eastleigh. The line from Romsey via Chandler's Ford trails in just north of Eastleigh which is also the junction for the Fareham line. The line returns to double track until St Denys where the West Coastway Line trails in. At Northam the original route to Southampton Terminus carries on south towards Eastern Docks and the main route curves west to enter a tunnel and then Southampton Central Station. The line remains double-tracked most of the way to Weymouth, but there is a single-track section between Moreton and Dorchester South which constrains capacity.

Electrification

The suburban portion of the line, as far as the Pirbright 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. From then until 1988, trains on the Bournemouth to Weymouth section operated a push-pull system. One or two Class 438 4-TC units would be propelled from London to Bournemouth by a Class 432 4-REP unit, controlled from the leading cab of the Class 438 4-TC unit. At Bournemouth, one or both of the Class 438 4-TCs would continue over the unelectrified line to Weymouth hauled by a Class 33/1 diesel locomotive. Trains from Weymouth would follow the same procedure in reverse.

Electrification was extended to Weymouth in 1988 and saw the introduction of the new Class 442 5-WES Wessex Electric trains. These were withdrawn by February 2007; Class 444 5-DES, Class 450 4-DES and Class 455 trains are now used.

Services

The majority of passenger services are currently operated by South West Trains.

Intercity

Intercity services run as follows (Monday-Saturday off-peak):

• Two trains per hour from Waterloo to Weymouth, with:
  • One calling at Woking, Winchester, Southampton Airport Parkway, Southampton Central, Brockenhurst, Bournemouth, all stations to Hamworthy, Wareham, Dorchester South and Weymouth.
  • One calling at Clapham Junction, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton Airport Parkway, Southampton Central, Brockenhurst, New Milton, Christchurch, all stations to Bournemouth, Poole and all stations to Weymouth.
• Two CrossCountry trains per hour, most calling at Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton Airport Parkway, Southampton Central, Brockenhurst and Bournemouth:
  • One between Southampton Central and Newcastle via Birmingham
  • One between Bournemouth and Manchester via Birmingham
• Two trains per hour between Basingstoke and Waterloo. Calling at Clapham Junction (alternate trains only) and Woking; these trains continue to serve the West of England Main Line.
• The rail service with the most scheduled stops on the National Rail network runs on weekday mornings from Waterloo to Weymouth. It leaves Waterloo at 6:12 and arrives in Weymouth at 10:09, a journey of just under four hours. Including origin and destination it stops at 43 stations.

Regional

• One train per hour to Poole, calling at Clapham Junction, Farnborough Main, Fleet, Basingstoke, Winchester, Shawford, Eastleigh, Southampton Airport Parkway, Southampton Central, Totton, Ashurst New Forest, Brockenhurst and all stations to Poole.
• One train per hour to Portsmouth Harbour, calling at Woking, Farnborough Main, Basingstoke, Micheldever, Winchester and Eastleigh, before branching off to serve the Eastleigh to Fareham line.

Outer suburban

• Two trains per hour between Waterloo and the Alton Line, calling at Clapham Junction (alternate trains only), Surbiton, West Byfleet, Woking and Brookwood before continuing down the Alton Line.
• Two trains per hour between Waterloo and Basingstoke, calling at Clapham Junction (alternate trains only), Surbiton, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge, Woking and all stations to Basingstoke.
• One train per hour between Romsey and Salisbury via Southampton, using the Eastleigh to Romsey Line and part of the Wessex Main Line. Travelling in a 'figure of six' route, trains from Salisbury go to Romsey, then call at Redbridge and all stations to Eastleigh, where the train leaves the SWML to return to Romsey.

Commuter

There are also many commuter services serving London. Those of note are:

• Two trains per hour between Waterloo and Woking, calling at Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, Earlsfield, Wimbledon, Surbiton and all stations to Woking.
• Two trains per hour between Waterloo and Hampton Court, calling at Vauxhall, Clapham Junction and all stations to Surbiton before continuing down the Hampton Court Branch Line.
• Two trains per hour between Waterloo and Guildford, calling at Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, Earlsfield, Wimbledon, Surbiton and all stations to Guildford via Oxshott and Cobham & Stoke d'Abernon.

See also

Chelsea-Hackney line (possible routeing of proposed cross-London line to relieve congestion on SWML)

External links

• Basingstoke's Railway History
• Network Rail's Route Utilisation Strategy for the South West Main Line

Bibliography

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1 85260 508 1. 
• Lucking, J.H. (1968). Railways of Dorset. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. 
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1992). Branch Lines Around Wimborne. Middleton Press. ISBN 0 906520 97 5. 

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  A Class 442 5-WES on the South Western Main Line at Poole

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  A Class 442 5-WES on the South Western Main Line at Holes Bay