Bishops Waltham branch

Passenger business was never heavy, but clay pits and a brickworks and gasworks at Bishop's Waltham brought mineral traffic to the line.

The joint line was operated by the LSWR and the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) co-operatively.

The ill-feeling was against it as a monopoly rail transport provider, and the potential to connect from Southampton to more easterly regions appeared attractive.

A line from Southampton to Midhurst, joining with the Mid-Sussex Railway and beyond to Horsham and Three Bridges, on the LBSCR fitted the objective neatly.

This went to Parliament in the 1861 session, and was subject to strong opposition from the LSWR, who saw it as an obvious attempt by the LBSCR to get access into Southampton.

[1] Local interests in Bishop's Waltham, galvanised by a Mr Arthur Helps, a dynamic local citizen, prepared a new bill for a Bishop's Waltham, Botley and Bursledon Railway (BWB&BR), intending to deposit it for the 1862 session of Parliament.

The latter agreed to withdraw its opposition if the Bishop's Waltham scheme omitted the Bursledon extension, reducing the line to a length of 3+1⁄2 miles.

For some reason they had failed to formalise the undertaking, and Rich recommended (by letter dated 29 May 1863) refusal of the authorisation of opening, until the document was supplied.

Steps were now taken to provide permanent passenger and goods accommodation at Bishop's Waltham, but difficulty with groundworks and the necessity to arrange finance for the work delayed matters; the new buildings were not available until March or April 1865.

The BWR must have assumed this would increase traffic on their line, making it a through railway accessible from the Guildford direction.

[12][3] In January 1866 the LSWR recommended the construction of an engine shed at Bishop's Waltham, but the cost at £500 was quite out of the BWR Company’s power.

There were a number of other difficulties of this kind, but one of the contractors for the construction of the line named Ridley placed a claim for repayment of a bond amounting to £2,371.

Then in early 1867 a man called Rilson,[note 2] a partner of the contractor Ridley, now served a demand for payment of his bond, in the amount of £3,204.

The LSWR was unwilling for the branch line it operated to drift indefinitely, and on 11 May 1881 it indicated that it had reached agreement with the contractor creditors, and that it was in a position to purchase the BWR for £22,000.

[note 3] The transfer was agreed and for accounting purposes considered to have taken place on 4 August 1881, sanctioned retrospectively by agreements later in the same year.

[13][3] The new owner made some improvements to the passenger and goods timetable, but resolutely refused to reinstate the Sunday train service.

[15] In a clear indication of priorities, the LSWR stated on 5 November 1904 that railmotors had been in service on the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, but had been taken off because of complaints about inadequate accommodation and poor ventilation.

In addition passengers from Bishop's Waltham to the large towns of Portsmouth and Southampton needed to change trains twice, at Botley and again at Fareham or Eastleigh.