It ran through unpromising, lightly populated terrain, and was probably built only to exclude competitors from building a line in the area.

In 1885 another incursion into the LSWR area of influence was made, when the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway opened its north – south line.

It was sponsored by the Great Western Railway, but it failed to generate enough investment to pay to reach Southampton, and its Winchester extremity forced it to rely on the LSWR.

[1] In 1884 the Great Western Railway and the LSWR had agreed on territorial boundaries: neither would encourage the building of new lines that encroached on the established area of the other.

When in the same year a Basingstoke to Alton Railway was proposed independently, it received no support from the LSWR, on which it would be dependent at each end, and the scheme foundered.

Thus the London and South Western have secured for themselves another preserve, and when the Meon Valley Line is finished, there will be a connection between Portsmouth and Salisbury.

"There are not enough people along the route to pay for grease for the engines", a man was heard pointedly to observe, but we may see plenty of heavy goods trains run along this light railway, as it is called.

This was designed to stimulate local transport development by enabling the authorisation of railway schemes without the expense of getting a parliamentary bill.

In an indication of the traffic volumes expected, there was to be a burrowing junction at Basingstoke, so that arriving trains could enter the up (north) side of the LSWR station.

[10][11] Although the Light Railway Order had been passed, taking into account submissions from public bodies, some local authorities nevertheless made a number of objections at this stage.

The objectors were very persistent, and after an appeal hearing on 28 June 1899, the railway company was directed to provide gates at five level crossings, incurring additional staff costs, and to alter the planned location of the Cliddesden station.

[12] Major Pringle of the Board of Trade inspected the line on 7 May 1901, and apart from some minor matters, found it satisfactory for passenger operation.

They were not operationally successful, being incapable of surmounting the steep gradients on the line, and of handling goods wagons in a mixed train formation.

The change incurred additional operating costs, but saved considerable journey time, as the passenger trains were not required to shunt at goods sidings.

To fulfil its obligation the LSWR decided to close the Basingstoke and Alton line at short notice and recover the track from there.

Despite objective evidence, the Lords Committee called upon the Southern Railway to reconsider – effectively an instruction to reopen the line.

[24][13] Despite record loadings on the first Basingstoke market day following this event, gross receipts for the first two weeks totalled only £94 against wage costs alone of £102.

Running through the centre of the villages served, the bus immediately attracted custom and the light carryings on the railway reduced correspondingly.

Gainsborough Pictures were making a film about contrived train crashes, planned to harm railway business in support of a road bus operator.

The Southern Railway co-operated with the filming, and provided an obsolete steam engine and six coaches, which were destroyed in the crash.

Parts of the line remained in use for goods traffic, from Basingstoke to Bentworth and Lasham, and from Butts Junction to Treloar Hospital.

The Bentworth service was discontinued after the last train on 31 May 1936, and the Basingstoke stub was reduced to serve the Thornycroft private siding there.