Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway

Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway
Section of vintage track representing the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, on the Viables Roundabout in Basingstoke.
Overview
Type	Light rail
Locale	Basingstoke Hampshire
Operation
Opened	1901
Closed	January 1917, reopened August 1924, final closure 12 September 1932
Owner	London and South Western Railway Southern Railway
Operator(s)	London and South Western Railway Southern Railway
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway was a railway in Hampshire, UK, opened on Saturday, 1 June 1901, with no formal ceremony. It was the first railway to be enabled by an Order of the Light Railway Commission under the Light Railways Act of 1896. Despite its closure in January 1917, and the removal of much of the track, the line was relaid and re-opened in August 1924 largely because of pressure from local landowners, farmers and agricultural workers. Passenger services ended in 1932 but a goods service from Basingstoke as far as Bentworth and Lasham continued until 1936. The whole of the line was then dismantled, except for short stubs at either end - from Basingstoke to Thornycroft's factory, and from Butts Junction to Alton Park. These short stretches were used for goods traffic until 1967.

The line was authorised under the Light Railways Act in December 1897. Construction began in July 1898. As the first Light Railway in the country the construction attracted some interest in the railway industry and the first cut in the ground was ceremonially made by Charles Ritchie, the then President of the Board of Trade at a spot next to the Thornycroft works near Basingstoke.

The railway operated from Basingstoke railway station, through Cliddesden, Herriard and Bentworth and Lasham to Butts Junction (just west of Alton). In 1909 a private platform was opened called Alton Park, also Treloar's Hospital Platform railway station, which served the Lord Mayor Treloar's hospital.