Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway
Encyclopedia
The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north-south between Didcot
, Newbury
and Southampton
although it actually reached the latter by running over the London and South Western Railway
tracks from Shawford Junction, south of Winchester
. At Newbury, it had junctions with the Berks and Hants branch of the Great Western Railway
(GWR) east and west of the town, running over Great Western tracks for the short distance in between and sharing the Great Western station. The line was finally completed in January 1891 and was formally absorbed into the GWR under the Railways Act
in 1923.
and the London and South Western Railway
(LSWR).
The idea for a railway running the length of Hampshire
stemmed from a proposal for the Manchester & Southampton Railway during the 'Railway Mania' of the 1850s. The plan never progressed, but the idea of a railway linking the industrial areas of the Midlands was revived in the 1870s, when the growth of the railway network meant that main lines reached Southampton via Oxford
, Reading
and Basingstoke
. This was an indirect and complex route, and in 1873 a formal Bill was sought for the construction of the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Junction Railway.
Originally, the proposal called for a junction with the South Western Main Line
at Micheldever
, but the LSWR rejected this, and so the company sought its own, independent track to Southampton
. At this stage, the 'Junction' part of the name was dropped. The planned railway would run across largely empty country between Newbury and Winchester
before running down the eastern side of the Itchen Valley
, closely paralleling the LSWR's main line on the western side, and joining the South Western Main Line
at St Denys Station
for the short final run into Southampton Terminus
. The DN&S was proposed as a short cut to the coast, saving six miles compared to the existing route through Reading
.
Although planned as an independent concern, the DN&SR Company soon realised that it lacked the resources to build and operate a railway from scratch. The Great Western Railway
agreed to work the new line, providing locomotive
s (and their crews) and rolling stock
. This was greatly to the GWR's advantage, as it allowed it free access to the increasingly important port of Southampton
, and provided a fast route into the heart of its main rival's territory. Recent LSWR expansion in Devon
and Cornwall
(the LSWR's tracks reached Padstow
at their most westerly point) and the construction of the Somerset and Dorset Railway (a joint LSWR/Midland Railway
venture) made the GWR eager to expand its own lines in the south.
and Newbury
and opened in 1881. The company's next priority was the construction of a terminus and track at Southampton
. However, the company's operating and construction costs increased heavily and income from the short stretch of line already open was low. Work on the route into Southampton stopped in November 1883 and the company concentrated on reaching Winchester. This was achieved in 1885, with a new station being built in the Cheesehill (now Chesil) area of the city, reached by a cut and cover tunnel under the St. Giles district. The station was on the outskirts of Winchester, on a cramped site right next to St. Giles' Hill.
Despite this large section of new line, the railway's revenue remained low and costs continued to rise. In June 1885 the company estimated that it required £100,000 to complete the line into Southampton
, and Winchester and Southampton Councils invested £15,000 and £70,000 respectively. However, the money was rapidly spent on the existing line's upkeep.
The DN&SR's main problem was that without an independent line to Southampton, it could not attract the key heavy goods and express passenger traffic that it anticipated. However, without the income this traffic would provide, it could not finance the final section of line. The GWR, although running the line, was reluctant to assist for fear of angering the LSWR, and the LSWR similarly kept its distance (despite their rivalry, the two companies, through necessity, operated many joint services over each other's rails, which either company could disrupt if it felt the other threatened it by investing in the DN&SR).
This situation continued for a short while, until the LSWR, fearing that the GWR might eventually finance the completion of the railway, offered a compromise. It would construct a short connecting line from the DN&SR's Winchester station to its own main line
and allow DN&SR trains, run by the GWR, to run along the line to Southampton. In return, the DN&SR was not to seek an independent route. Parts of land in Southampton itself already purchased by the DN&SR (including a part built viaduct) for the final link were then subsequently sold off.
This line, running over the Hockley viaduct
, was completed in 1891, and services from Didcot
to Southampton began shortly after. The DN&SR joined the LSWR line just north of Shawford station
.
s on the section between Winchester and Southampton. Trains arriving at Chesil from the north had to stop whilst the GWR engine was uncoupled and an LSWR one attached (with the reverse happening on north-bound services). This delay almost totally negated the fact that the line was one of the shortest routes from the Midlands to the south coast.
The line did have its uses – it allowed a direct route from the South Wales Coalfield
(accessed by GWR main-lines) to the Southampton Docks, but passenger traffic remained low. The railway lost its separate identity in 1923 when it was fully amalgamated into the Great Western Railway
.
When trains from the north-west of England started services to Southampton in the 1920s, it was hoped the DN&SR would provide the crucial north-south link, but most trains were routed via Reading
with faster lines and greater capacity. During the 1930s the line was downgraded, with the removal of most passing loops and signal boxes that weren't in stations. Station staff numbers were also reduced. At the same time, the section of line around St. Catherine's Hill, north of the Hockley viaduct
was moved west by around 55 feet to allow the construction of the Winchester Bypass section of the A33 road
(now itself removed).
During the Second World War the line was a crucial transport link as southern England saw huge movements of troops and military supplies, with intensive use in the run-up to D-Day
. This saw the rapid re-construction of the passing loops and infrastructure removed only a few years previously- all of which were re-instated within days by intensive engineering works. The line was closed to passengers from August 1942 to March 1943 to enable it to carry the extra freight and military trains. However, after 1945 the line returned to its lightly used state.
An additional halt, at Barton Stacey (between Whitchurch and Sutton Scotney), was built in the early 1940s for military purposes, but was demolished after the war.
, plus some revenue from light freight such as the transport of horses, farm produce, iron foundryware and coal.
From the mid-1950s the competition from road transport was seriously eating into the line's profits. In an attempt to offer some economy, diesel multiple units (DMU's) were introduced and became a common sight on the northern section, especially the Pressed Steel Class 121 'Bubble Cars', but the large losses that the line was still making made it an obvious target for closure. Passenger services to stations south of Newbury
ended on 7 March 1960. Passenger services to stations north of Newbury then ended on 10 September 1962 although the last passenger train on the line was a re-routed Pines Express
in May 1964.
is a notable feature as being the longest railway viaduct in Hampshire
, and the earliest modern structure confirmed as having a solid concrete core.
There was also a tunnel at Winchester leading to the Chesil Street terminus. The engineering drawings for the tunnel put its length at 439 yards. Navvies and railway workers were paid 'tunnel allowance' (a wage bonus) for working in tunnels 440 yards or more in length. After protests from the workforce, the tunnel was re-measured. The tunnel was constructed on a curve, and the outside edge of the tunnel was found to be 441 yards in length, thus allowing the extra money to be paid to workers.
The line made railway history in that it was the first to employ a "steam navvy" (a steam-powered mechanical digger) in its construction.
. On 2 April 1950, the line south of Enborne Junction was transferred to the Southern Region
, thus putting it under the same direct management as the South Western Main Line. It was deemed unnecessary to have two lines that so closely paralleled each other, and plans were made for the line's eventual closure.
Passenger numbers on the DN&SR slowly declined throughout the 1950s, although goods traffic remained healthy - especially chemical and oil traffic to and from Fawley Oil Refinery
.
) it was finally deemed politically to be uneconomical to operate and was closed to passengers in the early 1960s: the bulk of the southern part of the line, between Newbury and Winchester, closed on 7 March 1960,; the section between Winchester and Shawford, which had been kept open for a summer Saturday service, was closed on 11 September 1961; whilst the northern section, between Didcot and Newbury survived until 10 September 1962, the last train having run on 8 September. The Beeching Report
, which was published in March 1963, listed the line between Didcot and Newbury as one of those which were to be closed, noting that not only was closure under consideration before the formulation of the report, but that it had already been implemented. The six intermediate stations on this section were also listed, with similar notes.
, the remains of bridges and earthworks are still standing, and indeed much of the northern section between Didcot and Newbury is still entirely extant.
Didcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
, Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
although it actually reached the latter by running over the London and South Western Railway
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
tracks from Shawford Junction, south of Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
. At Newbury, it had junctions with the Berks and Hants branch of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
(GWR) east and west of the town, running over Great Western tracks for the short distance in between and sharing the Great Western station. The line was finally completed in January 1891 and was formally absorbed into the GWR under the Railways Act
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
in 1923.
Proposals
The DN&SR was authorised in 1873 and became part of a series of 'railway wars' in the south of England between the Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and the London and South Western Railway
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
(LSWR).
The idea for a railway running the length of Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
stemmed from a proposal for the Manchester & Southampton Railway during the 'Railway Mania' of the 1850s. The plan never progressed, but the idea of a railway linking the industrial areas of the Midlands was revived in the 1870s, when the growth of the railway network meant that main lines reached Southampton via Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
and Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
. This was an indirect and complex route, and in 1873 a formal Bill was sought for the construction of the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Junction Railway.
Originally, the proposal called for a junction with the South Western Main Line
South Western Main Line
The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth...
at Micheldever
Micheldever
Micheldever is a village in Hampshire, England, situated 6 miles north of Winchester.It lies upon the River Dever . The river, and village, formerly part of Stratton Park, lie on a Hampshire grass downland, underlain with chalk and flint...
, but the LSWR rejected this, and so the company sought its own, independent track to Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. At this stage, the 'Junction' part of the name was dropped. The planned railway would run across largely empty country between Newbury and Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
before running down the eastern side of the Itchen Valley
River Itchen, Hampshire
The River Itchen is a river in Hampshire, England. It flows from mid-Hampshire to join with Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge in the city of Southampton. The river has a total length of , and is noted as one of England's - if not one of the World's - premier chalk streams for fly fishing,...
, closely paralleling the LSWR's main line on the western side, and joining the South Western Main Line
South Western Main Line
The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth...
at St Denys Station
St Denys railway station
St Denys railway station is a railway station serving the St. Denys and Portswood suburbs of Southampton in Hampshire, England.Built in 1865, it is named after the surrounding area, which in turn is named after the Priory of St Denys, a major landmark in medieval Southampton.The station is at the...
for the short final run into Southampton Terminus
Southampton Terminus railway station
Southampton Terminus railway station served the docks and city centre of Southampton, England. The station was first authorized on the 25 July 1834, it began as the terminus of the London and South Western Railway...
. The DN&S was proposed as a short cut to the coast, saving six miles compared to the existing route through Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
.
Although planned as an independent concern, the DN&SR Company soon realised that it lacked the resources to build and operate a railway from scratch. The Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
agreed to work the new line, providing locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s (and their crews) and rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
. This was greatly to the GWR's advantage, as it allowed it free access to the increasingly important port of Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, and provided a fast route into the heart of its main rival's territory. Recent LSWR expansion in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
(the LSWR's tracks reached Padstow
Padstow
Padstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately five miles northwest of Wadebridge, ten miles northwest of Bodmin and ten miles northeast of Newquay...
at their most westerly point) and the construction of the Somerset and Dorset Railway (a joint LSWR/Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
venture) made the GWR eager to expand its own lines in the south.
Construction
The first section of line was built between DidcotDidcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
and Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
and opened in 1881. The company's next priority was the construction of a terminus and track at Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. However, the company's operating and construction costs increased heavily and income from the short stretch of line already open was low. Work on the route into Southampton stopped in November 1883 and the company concentrated on reaching Winchester. This was achieved in 1885, with a new station being built in the Cheesehill (now Chesil) area of the city, reached by a cut and cover tunnel under the St. Giles district. The station was on the outskirts of Winchester, on a cramped site right next to St. Giles' Hill.
The LSWR Link
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, and Winchester and Southampton Councils invested £15,000 and £70,000 respectively. However, the money was rapidly spent on the existing line's upkeep.
The DN&SR's main problem was that without an independent line to Southampton, it could not attract the key heavy goods and express passenger traffic that it anticipated. However, without the income this traffic would provide, it could not finance the final section of line. The GWR, although running the line, was reluctant to assist for fear of angering the LSWR, and the LSWR similarly kept its distance (despite their rivalry, the two companies, through necessity, operated many joint services over each other's rails, which either company could disrupt if it felt the other threatened it by investing in the DN&SR).
South Western Main Line
The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth...
and allow DN&SR trains, run by the GWR, to run along the line to Southampton. In return, the DN&SR was not to seek an independent route. Parts of land in Southampton itself already purchased by the DN&SR (including a part built viaduct) for the final link were then subsequently sold off.
This line, running over the Hockley viaduct
Hockley Railway Viaduct
The Hockley Railway Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct to the south of Winchester in Hampshire, England.-History:The viaduct, originally called the Twyford Viaduct, was built in the 1880s by the London and South Western Railway . It provided a link over the River Itchen and water meadows, from...
, was completed in 1891, and services from Didcot
Didcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
to Southampton began shortly after. The DN&SR joined the LSWR line just north of Shawford station
Shawford railway station
Shawford railway station serves the villages of Twyford, Compton and Shawford in Hampshire, England. This station and all trains serving it are operated by South West Trains.-Layout and facilities:...
.
Operation
The LSWR also insisted on only using its own locomotiveLocomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s on the section between Winchester and Southampton. Trains arriving at Chesil from the north had to stop whilst the GWR engine was uncoupled and an LSWR one attached (with the reverse happening on north-bound services). This delay almost totally negated the fact that the line was one of the shortest routes from the Midlands to the south coast.
The line did have its uses – it allowed a direct route from the South Wales Coalfield
South Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield is a large region of south Wales that is rich with coal deposits, especially the South Wales Valleys.-The coalfield area:...
(accessed by GWR main-lines) to the Southampton Docks, but passenger traffic remained low. The railway lost its separate identity in 1923 when it was fully amalgamated into the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
.
When trains from the north-west of England started services to Southampton in the 1920s, it was hoped the DN&SR would provide the crucial north-south link, but most trains were routed via Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
with faster lines and greater capacity. During the 1930s the line was downgraded, with the removal of most passing loops and signal boxes that weren't in stations. Station staff numbers were also reduced. At the same time, the section of line around St. Catherine's Hill, north of the Hockley viaduct
Hockley Railway Viaduct
The Hockley Railway Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct to the south of Winchester in Hampshire, England.-History:The viaduct, originally called the Twyford Viaduct, was built in the 1880s by the London and South Western Railway . It provided a link over the River Itchen and water meadows, from...
was moved west by around 55 feet to allow the construction of the Winchester Bypass section of the A33 road
A33 road
The A33 is a major road in England. The road formerly ran from Reading to Southampton, but now consists of three disjoint sections:*Reading to Basingstoke*The A30 road south of Basingstoke to just north of Winchester...
(now itself removed).
During the Second World War the line was a crucial transport link as southern England saw huge movements of troops and military supplies, with intensive use in the run-up to D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. This saw the rapid re-construction of the passing loops and infrastructure removed only a few years previously- all of which were re-instated within days by intensive engineering works. The line was closed to passengers from August 1942 to March 1943 to enable it to carry the extra freight and military trains. However, after 1945 the line returned to its lightly used state.
An additional halt, at Barton Stacey (between Whitchurch and Sutton Scotney), was built in the early 1940s for military purposes, but was demolished after the war.
Traffic
The traffic carried by the DN&SR largely consisted of heavy through goods trains with an average of eleven trains per day even in the 1960s when passengers service were being reduced. However, the income from the line was largely supplied by the passenger traffic from a number of small villages along the line with some through services from Southampton to OxfordOxford railway station
Oxford railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Oxford, England. It is about west of the city centre, northwest of Frideswide Square and the eastern end of Botley Road, and on the line linking with . It is also on the line for trains between and Hereford via...
, plus some revenue from light freight such as the transport of horses, farm produce, iron foundryware and coal.
From the mid-1950s the competition from road transport was seriously eating into the line's profits. In an attempt to offer some economy, diesel multiple units (DMU's) were introduced and became a common sight on the northern section, especially the Pressed Steel Class 121 'Bubble Cars', but the large losses that the line was still making made it an obvious target for closure. Passenger services to stations south of Newbury
Newbury railway station
Newbury railway station is a railway station in the centre of Newbury, Berkshire, England. It was opened on 21 December 1847 by the Great Western Railway...
ended on 7 March 1960. Passenger services to stations north of Newbury then ended on 10 September 1962 although the last passenger train on the line was a re-routed Pines Express
Pines Express
The Pines Express was a named passenger train that ran daily between Manchester and Bournemouth in England between 1910 and 1967.It ran for the first time under the name "Pines Express" on 26 September 1927; and is believed to have been named after the pine trees growing in the Chines in the...
in May 1964.
Engineering works
The railway presented some massive engineering challenges as it negotiated the Berkshire and Hampshire Downs. The cuttings at Upton and Tothill together involved the excavation of around a million tons of chalk and soil and the Hockley Railway ViaductHockley Railway Viaduct
The Hockley Railway Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct to the south of Winchester in Hampshire, England.-History:The viaduct, originally called the Twyford Viaduct, was built in the 1880s by the London and South Western Railway . It provided a link over the River Itchen and water meadows, from...
is a notable feature as being the longest railway viaduct in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, and the earliest modern structure confirmed as having a solid concrete core.
There was also a tunnel at Winchester leading to the Chesil Street terminus. The engineering drawings for the tunnel put its length at 439 yards. Navvies and railway workers were paid 'tunnel allowance' (a wage bonus) for working in tunnels 440 yards or more in length. After protests from the workforce, the tunnel was re-measured. The tunnel was constructed on a curve, and the outside edge of the tunnel was found to be 441 yards in length, thus allowing the extra money to be paid to workers.
The line made railway history in that it was the first to employ a "steam navvy" (a steam-powered mechanical digger) in its construction.
Closure
After the Second World War, the DN&SR returned to being a rural backwater line. At the railway nationalisation in 1948, the line, as part of the former GWR, became part of the Western Region of British RailwaysWestern Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992...
. On 2 April 1950, the line south of Enborne Junction was transferred to the Southern Region
Southern Region of British Railways
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex...
, thus putting it under the same direct management as the South Western Main Line. It was deemed unnecessary to have two lines that so closely paralleled each other, and plans were made for the line's eventual closure.
Passenger numbers on the DN&SR slowly declined throughout the 1950s, although goods traffic remained healthy - especially chemical and oil traffic to and from Fawley Oil Refinery
Fawley, Hampshire
Fawley is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is situated in the New Forest on the western shore of the Solent, approximately 7 miles south of Southampton. Fawley is also the site of an oil refinery, operated by Exxon-Mobil, which is the largest facility of its kind in the United...
.
For passengers
Like many rural railways (including the LSWR's own 'second main-line' in the region, the Meon Valley RailwayMeon Valley Railway
The Meon Valley Railway was a cross-country railway in Hampshire, England that ran for between Alton and Fareham, closely following the course of the River Meon. At its northern end, it joined with the Mid-Hants Railway to Winchester, the Alton Line to Brookwood and the Basingstoke and Alton...
) it was finally deemed politically to be uneconomical to operate and was closed to passengers in the early 1960s: the bulk of the southern part of the line, between Newbury and Winchester, closed on 7 March 1960,; the section between Winchester and Shawford, which had been kept open for a summer Saturday service, was closed on 11 September 1961; whilst the northern section, between Didcot and Newbury survived until 10 September 1962, the last train having run on 8 September. The Beeching Report
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, which was published in March 1963, listed the line between Didcot and Newbury as one of those which were to be closed, noting that not only was closure under consideration before the formulation of the report, but that it had already been implemented. The six intermediate stations on this section were also listed, with similar notes.
For goods
Goods trains remained, but the goods facilities at the intermediate stations were gradually closed between 1962 and 1966, leaving only the through goods services. The line was closed completely south of Newbury in 1965 and north of Newbury on 19 October 1967. Parts of the railway's course and earthworks are now used by the A34 road between Newbury and Winchester. The road generally closely follows the railway's former course. In villages formerly served by the railway, such as Sutton ScotneySutton Scotney
Sutton Scotney is a village in Hampshire, England. It is part of the City of Winchester district, and lies north of Winchester proper.It lies alongside the River Dever and is now bypassed by the A34 trunk road. It is notable for having been the site of numerous Spitfire crashes in the Second World...
, the remains of bridges and earthworks are still standing, and indeed much of the northern section between Didcot and Newbury is still entirely extant.
Re-opening campaign
A group called Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway Revival is campaigning for the re-opening of the line.Further reading
- Butt, R.V.J. (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Patrick Stephens Ltd, ISBN 1-85260-508-1
- Ellis, H. (1959) British Railway History: an outline from the accession of William IV to the nationalization of railways, Volume 2: 1877-1947, George Allen & Unwin.
- Karau, P., Parsons, M. and Robertson, K. (1984) An illustrated history of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, Wild Swan Publications, ISBN 0-906867-04-5
- Robertson, K. (1988) Hampshire Railways Remembered, Newbury : Countryside Books, ISBN 0-905392-93-0
- Robertson, K (1988) The Railways of Winchester, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-906579-71-6