The London and South Western Railway had a roundabout connection to Portsmouth, and the final route section on Portsea Island was operated jointly with the LSWR.

From 1906 steam railmotors were used in connection with new halts, simple low-cost passenger stations, and in 1937 the line was electrified on the third-rail system as part of an ambitious modernisation scheme implemented by the later Southern Railway.

[6] The harbour at Kingston, a short distance to the east of the Shoreham terminus, was important commercially, and it soon became a principal port for crossings to and from Dieppe.

The bad state of the roads was a matter of concern to the coach proprietors, and as a result the committee decided that two wagons should be altered to carriage trucks, and temporary stages for loading were to be erected at Brighton and Shoreham.

[18] The LSWR was planning an extension to Portsmouth from Fareham, on its Gosport branch line, through Cosham and into Portsea Island.

The line from the meeting point just west of Cosham to Portsmouth was made joint between the Brighton company and the LSWR.

The movable River Arun bridge at "Arundel" (later renamed Ford station, needed to be widened as it formed the only remaining piece of single track on the Portsmouth line.

Negotiations with the Admiralty, as guardians of navigable waterways, resulted in agreement by them to narrow the channel, reducing the cost of the bridgeworks.

It was supported near the centre so the other (eastern) end rose accordingly, and the whole span could be drawn back, riding over the fixed structure as it did so.

The motion was arranged by a hand winch, but returning to the closed position was by gravity down the slope formed by the inclination of the moveable span.

[30] The connection at Cosham had given the LSWR access to Portsmouth via Fareham, but the company preferred to emphasise the Gosport route for London passengers.

It fell to independent promoters to propose a more direct route, and after some false starts the Portsmouth Railway was authorised in 1853.

This proved to be difficult, but at length the LSWR decided to adopt the unwanted line, if only to prevent rival companies from taking it on.

[32][33] An unambiguous decision was not immediately conclusive, and it was not until 8 August 1859 that the LBSCR conceded the legal point and ordinary train running by the LSWR commenced.

[35] Feeling that the poor transport network serving Hayling Island, local interests promoted their own railway.

The lines on Portsea island became joint with the London and South Western Railway and the station was inadequate for the growing traffic.

At just over a mile in length, it was to leave the existing line at the throat of Portsmouth station and climb past it on the south side, running at a high level to The Hard, forming a new landing stage there adjacent to the (Royal) Albert Pier, and a passenger station that came to be called Portsmouth Harbour.

A branch line was to run from the approach to the harbour station, turning north across a swing bridge to Watering Island Jetty, for the use of the Admiralty, and not infrequently by royalty en route to Osborne House and elsewhere.

[43] In 1880 the LBSCR and the LSWR jointly took over the operation of the ferry steamers between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, authorised by Act of 23 May 1879.

Clarence Pier had been operating since 1861, and to was located on the southern margin of Portsea Island, in contradistinction to the Portsmouth station towards the west.

[51][52] In the first decade of the twentieth century the company decided on the use of railmotors, with intermediate halts, to develop local passenger traffic on the line between Brighton and Worthing.

In this context the "railmotors" were small steam locomotives semi-permanently coupled to a single coach with a driving compartment at the non-locomotive end.

Halts were built at Holland Road (near the site of the original Hove station); at Dyke Junction; at Fishersgate, between Portslade and Southwick; at Bungalow Town, and at Ham Bridge.

The system was extended, and in 1906 and 1907 halts were built further west, at Lyminster, Fishbourne, Nutbourne, Southbourne, Warblington and Bedhampton.

The LSWR ran a much more frequent service on the Portsmouth Direct Line, taking four minutes longer from Waterloo.

The former LBSCR London suburban area had been operating electric passenger trains for some time, having converted from an overhead conductor to a third rail system.

The electric trains were considered to be highly successful, and in 1930 it was announced that a main line electrification would be undertaken, reaching Brighton and West Worthing.

A halt at Bungalow Town, provided with wooden platforms, was located between Shoreham-by-Sea and Lancing, and had been closed on 1 January 1933.

At Havant a much enlarged layout was provided with 800 foot platforms, through lines between, and a separate bay for the Hayling Island trains.

2 Electrification Scheme was authorised; this would extend from Worthing to Havant, and include the Mid-Sussex Line route from Dorking, as well as the Bognor and Littlehampton branches.