Talk:Portsmouth Direct Line

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I sometimes wonder where the information for an article such as this comes from! I take issue with almost every fact in the opening remarks.

First and foremost, the word "Line", when used by the British railways, nearly always refers to the services which run on particular sections of a railway; and are often used to describe such services. This means that it is to the timetable for that route that we should turn for the stations served by it. If one does that, the the first three stops for this service are Clapham Junction, Woking and Guildford: trains do not stop at the others listed. There are other stations which the train passes, but these are served by suburban services over the same set of tracks.

In much the same vein, the note that Woking is the station "for the South Western Main Line" (SWML) makes it sound as if it is an interchange point, but since the Portsmouth trains do not stop there *, that would not be possible. Again the SWML travels over the same tracks.

• sorry - that is incorrect, they do - but the basic point remains.

The article stated that ... The Portsmouth Direct Line ... was built between 1853 and 1857 and was electrified in 1933. The dates are incorrect for the openings: I have now included a history of the route in that respect. Here is where the difference between "Line" as a title for the route, and "line" as a description of the railway, comes into the picture. As for electrification, that took place for the Portsmouth line workings (and with a three other lines) on 4 July 1937: four years later than suggested.

The line also provides a faster way for trains to reach Guildford from London, as they could run via Woking instead of taking the Effingham Junction route. The route suggested can only be slower - it is a suburban service, unlike the fast trains on the Portsmouth Line!!!

It would be great if facts were checked first!! Peter Shearan 15:17, 31 May 2005 (UTC)

The Woking line may be slightly longer but in my experience it's always been the route for the faster trains to Portsmouth; the Effingham junction route seems to be used for suburban trains that run as far as Guildford. Or so it was in BR days. They tended to be decribed as "Guildford via Cobham" as opposed to "Guildford via Woking" at Waterloo. Britmax 19:35, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Denvilles halt

moved talk back to original article. Bastique▼^parlervoir 16:11, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

there MUST be more information that can be added to the battle of havant section. if you do know anything, just click edit! Lenny 07:03, 22 June 2006 (UTC)