London and Southampton Railway

The London and Southampton Railway was an early standard gauge railway company between London and Southampton, in England. It opened in stages from 1838 to 1840 after a difficult construction period, but was commercially successful.

On preparing to serve Portsmouth, a rival port to Southampton, it changed its name to the London and South Western Railway in June 1839.

Its original termini, at Nine Elms in London and at Southampton Docks, proved inconvenient and the line was extended to better-situated main stations at both ends. The remainder of the original main line continues in use today, as an important part of the national rail network.

This article deals with the construction of the original line up to the time of opening throughout. Subsequent information is in the article London and South Western Railway.

During the Napoleonic Wars, there had been concern about the safety of shipping traffic approaching London from the west (via the English Channel), and a number of canal schemes were put forward. At the same time, much of the packet traffic—urgent messages and small packages from and to foreign locations—used Falmouth as its port of entry and exit, and it was conveyed to and from London by road: a slow and inconvenient journey. An early proposal for a railway came from Robert Johnson and Abel Rous Dottin, member of parliament for Southampton. A prospectus was published on 23 October 1830 gave support to the proposals.

A private meeting of interested parties was held on 26 February 1831, and a committee of investigation was appointed, and £400 voted for initial expenses, and the services of Francis Giles were secured as engineer.

A prospectus was issued on 6 April 1831 for the Southampton, London and Branch Railway and Dock Company, which was to have a capital of £1.5 million. The line was to link Southampton and London, and to extend a branch to districts between Hungerford and Bath and Bristol, and the company was to make improvements to the docks at Southampton. The engineer Francis Giles was retained to design the route. A reduction in the price of coal to persons living near the line was forecast, as well as passenger traffic and the import of produce and materials through Southampton docks.

Giles proceeded with a detailed survey, but the directors were persuaded to hold over submission of their enabling Bill until the 1833 session, possibly to observe how the London and Birmingham Railway bill fared in the 1832 session. Williams suggests that this delay enabled the London and Birmingham Railway to be the first (main line) railway out of London and that it made the implementation of the Great Western Railway easier also.

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