Other schemes for a Portsmouth to London railway were put forward over the years, including, in 1844, a planned line to use the atmospheric system of traction.

c. xxviii) for its Gosport branch on 4 June 1839; section 2 of the act authorised changing the company name to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR); this was a deliberate move to ameliorate tension between the towns of Portsmouth and Southampton.

This meant that the established companies were no longer secure in their own territory, as challenging new schemes promoted locally were proposed.

The LSWR saw that Guildford would be a useful starting point for a railway to the south coast at Chichester, but the wooden track was an obvious objection.

Nevertheless an extension to Chichester linking with a planned line from Fareham offered the best chance of defeating a proposed Direct Portsmouth Railway.

The LSWR agreed, but at its own expense the Guildford Junction was to complete its single line by 1 May 1845 in conventional track instead of wood, with earthworks and bridges suitable for later doubling.

At the same time the London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) had authorisation for an Epsom branch from Croydon, to be worked on the atmospheric system, in which stationary engines exhausted air from a pipe laid between the rails; the leading carriage of trains carried a piston which ran in the tube, and the air pressure differential propelled the train.

By this time Parliament had become hostile to railway schemes floated simply to sell on to existing lines, and the bill was thrown out.

c. xcix) on 8 July 1853, for a 32+1⁄4 mile route from Godalming (LSWR, at a junction just north of the original terminus) to Havant (LBSCR, on the line from Chichester to Portsmouth).

[23] This would have been an extremely long route to London, and in any case it was defeated when negotiations with the SER and the LBSCR for traffic running over their lines failed.

The earthworks at Shalford forming a south to east curve to the SER line were completed, but no track was ever laid on it.

The obstruction culminated in threatened direct action when, on 1 January 1859, the LSWR Portsmouth Railway was due to open.

[25][11] The LSWR decided to force the issue by running a goods train on 28 December 1858; it arrived at Havant at about 07:00 while it was still dark, with about 80 workmen on board.

[11] The LBSCR local manager reported: About 7.0 am this morning, the Direct Portsmouth people... arrived at Havant junction with a goods train, two engines and about eighty men, and demanded passage along the line, threatening the switchman with immediate imprisonment unless he gave up the tongue of the points.

They further refused to pledge themselves not to make a similar attempt at any time, and I have accordingly been obliged to remain at Havant with two engines and men to watch their proceedings.

[26]Whether physical violence took place is uncertain, but with numerous employees on each side and tempers running high it is likely that scuffles broke out.

[4][27][28] The Portsmouth Railway opened to Havant only, on 1 January 1859 and the issue of through running went to an arbitrator; his award was rejected, and the LBSCR obtained an injunction, preventing the LSWR from using the joint line.

However, when the injunction came before Vice Chancellor Wood on 19 January 1859 he refused the restraining order, but did not adjudicate on the terms of use of the line.

[29] Through running of Portsmouth Railway trains started on 24 January 1859, tolerated by the LBSCR without prejudice to its legal position, pending further negotiations.

Remarkably the shareholders of the Portsmouth Railway – the line was leased to the LSWR by them – demanded an increase in the rental charge.

[30][4][27] The hostility with the LBSCR could hardly continue indefinitely and in early August 1859, agreement was reached; a new pooling arrangement for passenger fares being agreed, as was rental for use of the joint line.

There was considerable ferry traffic to the Isle of Wight and to Gosport, involving road transfers through the streets of Portsmouth.

An independent Landport & Southsea Tramway built a horse-drawn street-running line from the Portsmouth station to Clarence Pier and this became the main embarkation point for train to ferry passengers; the tram conveyed a luggage trolley vehicle, and it had first and second class accommodation.

[33] The entire arrangement was still highly unsatisfactory and in 1872 an extension line and pier similar to the present-day locations was independently promoted.

c. cxviii) was passed on 7 July 1873, for a line climbing steeply at first from Portsmouth station to a point south of The Hard.

An additional £120,000 of share capital was authorised, and there were to be two short branches for the naval authorities, to Watering Island Jetty and to the Old Gun Wharf.

[35] The Southern Railway, as successor to the LSWR, had embarked on a series of electrification schemes, and these had had a remarkable effect on improved business and reduced costs.

The scheme was announced in 1935; at this time the main line from Waterloo was electrified as far as Hampton Court Junction, so the work was to be from there via Woking and Guildford to Portsmouth Harbour.

The line was designed on the "undulating principle"; that is, successive relatively steep gradients were accepted to reduce construction cost.

After Havant the gradients are considerably more gentle, with the exception of the short sharp climb at Portsmouth & Southsea on to the Harbour line.