One is on the western side, with the line running in a northerly direction via Basingstoke, Woking and Clapham Junction, towards the terminal at Waterloo.

The final gap from Alresford to Winchester is unlikely ever to be reinstated, owing to housing and the M3 having been built on the former trackbed.

This did not last long; in 1966, Chesil closed and an alternative diversionary route to Oxford, Birmingham and beyond, bypassing Basingstoke and Reading, was consequently lost.

In summer 2009, both platforms received ticket barriers with CCTV, with the entrance to platform 2 from the forecourt reorganised as part of South West Trains' plan to fit or refit ticket barriers on the busiest stations on the network.

It followed the same route as the X66, linking the station with Romsey via Hursley and Ampfield but with limited stops.

The service ceased on 28 July 2008 when South West Trains withdrew its subsidy, citing lack of use, despite a protest group having formed and collecting a petition of over 1,000 signatures to oppose the closure.

[2] As part of the superseded X66 timetable, Stagecoach South continue to operate two of the early morning peak services, which were well used alongside the existing hourly services (now half-hourly on weekdays) but without the facility to purchase rail tickets on the buses.