Gosport and Cosham lines
After a name change to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) it opened a branch from Bishopstoke (later known as Eastleigh to Gosport through Fareham, serving Portsmouth by a ferry crossing, in 1840.
The Meon Valley Railway from Alton, intended as a secondary main line, opened in 1904, in association with repairs to the troublesome Knowle Tunnel, a short distance north of Fareham.
The Eastleigh and Southampton lines to Fareham and Cosham continue in operation, and were electrified in 1990, transforming the passenger train service pattern.
[2] The decision to go to Gosport had considerable significance, condemning Portsmouth passengers and goods to a ferry crossing to start their journey.
As a concession to Portsmouth sensitivities, the Act also authorised changing the name of the L&SR to the London and South Western Railway.
"[3] The architect William Tite designed a massive station with arrival and departure platforms fronted on one side by an equally impressive stone colonnade.
[4][5] However it suffered from the major disadvantage of not being on the waterside, due to being excluded from the fortified area surrounding the Royal Navy establishments at Portsmouth Harbour.
Prince Albert met him there and they travelled together by special train to Farnborough, and then by road to Windsor Castle where Queen Victoria received him.
[8] On 14 October 1844 King Louis Philippe made the return journey from Farnborough to Gosport, accompanied by the Queen and Prince Albert.
[9] The public part of the arrival and departure of the French King involved considerable and lengthy formalities, including a long speech of address from Portsmouth Corporation.
Prince Albert considered that the use of the Victualling Yard for transfer from train to steamer was convenient because of its privacy within the Portsmouth fortifications, and asked if the Gosport station railway line could be extended into it.
[10] In fact the line was heavily used for bringing consumable supplies to the Clarence Yard, including cattle, which were slaughtered within the Royal Navy dockyard.
The reduction of the through main route to just a stub was a grave disappointment to its promoters, and on 26 August 1846 they met and agreed to sell their (unbuilt) line to the LSWR.
The LBSCR dropped its separate Fareham to Cosham branch in favour of the LSW line, which opened between those points on 1 September 1848.
This was ended by agreement from 8 August 1859 and the LSWR agreed to pay the LBSCR £2.500 annually to use the Havant to Portcreek line, instead of the toll payable by the Portsmouth company under its Act of 1858.
The LSWR obtained powers on 6 August 1860 to abandon the proposed parallel Havant to Portcreek and Cosham lines and an independent Portsmouth station.
[21] During the First World War railway wagons used the Gosport & Fareham Electric Tramway's line to reach the naval yard at Bedenham.
[22] The logistics facilities supporting the Royal Navy at Portsmouth were increased over time, and for heavy materials arriving and being removed, the railway was an essential partner.
The standard gauge sidings were worked by fireless locomotives because of the danger of explosion, although in later years an ordinary steam engine was used, fitted with a chimney spark arrester.
The opening of the Portsmouth Harbour extension railway in 1876 negated the advantage of the transfer at Stokes Bay, but the line continued in use until 1915.
[26] A landowner, Sir John C. Robinson, decided to develop the area at Lee-on-the-Solent, intending to create a watering place to rival Bournemouth.
A series of writs for payment of debts plunged the company further into financial embarrassment, and on 27 February 1869 the entire board of directors resigned.
The LSWR continued to work the line for the time being and the Bishop’s Waltham board of newly elected directors met on 30 December 1881, to confirm the sale of their company to the LSW for £20,000.
[30][33] The branch continued under the LSWR and later the Southern Railway, but revenue was so meagre – trains are recorded as running without a single fare-paying passenger – that closure was inevitable.
[34] In 1866 the Southampton and Netley Railway had opened, designed chiefly to serve the Royal Victoria Hospital, planned to treat wounded soldiers.
[45] Since 1958 most of the passenger service on the intervening network between Portsmouth and Southampton and Eastleigh (and Salisbury) had been operated by Southern Region diesel electric multiple units.
[46] The triangular enclave from the junctions at Cosham to Southampton (actually St Denys) and Eastleigh remained unelectrified, and in the 1980s it was decided to rectify the omission.
An official opening had taken place on 9 May when Cecil Parkinson the Secretary of State for Transport visited Hedge End, a new station built to serve an emerging residential area.
Actual commissioning had taken place some time previously; there was a Gala Day at Eastleigh on 6 May and an electric train was photographed at Fareham.
A busway was laid along part of the disused Fareham to Gosport line, opening in 2012 and extended in December 2021, under the brand name Eclipse.
