East Southsea railway station
Encyclopedia
Southsea Railway
The Southsea Railway was a branch of the Portsmouth Direct Line.It was opened in 1885 from Fratton Station, terminating at East Southsea Station . It was 1.25 miles long and almost completely level. Two unstaffed halts were added in 1904 at Albert Road and Jessie Road/Devonshire Avenue...
, which linked the resort with the main line from London at Fratton
Fratton railway station
Fratton railway station is a railway station in Portsmouth, located near Fratton Park, the stadium of association football club Portsmouth F.C.....
. The only discrete station until 1904 (when Jessie Road and Albert Road opened), it was initially a success, but was unable to compete with the burgeoning tramway network. The final nail in the line's coffin was a government directive issued shortly after the declaration of war that railways unable to support themselves would cease operations at the earliest opportunity; and, as the line clearly fell into this category, the last train ran early in August 1914.