The Route
Services leave London Waterloo along the South Western Main Line and fork off at Woking to take the actual Portsmouth Direct Line. It joins the West Coastway before Havant station and then diverges again at Farlington Junction to reach Portsmouth Harbour. Many services terminate at Portsmouth & SouthSea
Before electrification, the route was a difficult one, since there are two summits on its 74ΒΌ-mile (120 km) run. After using the River Wey valley through Guildford, the line climbs from Godalming for eight miles (13 km) at 1:80/1:82 to a summit near Haslemere; the second climb is three miles (5 km) near Buriton Tunnel south of Petersfield. Fratton station is the location of the depot for the line, where southwest trains stable their stock.
The route was electrified by Southern Railway in May 1937, leading to major service improvements; passenger numbers more than doubled in the following two years.
Read more about this topic: Portsmouth Direct Line
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