Portsmouth line

Portsmouth Line
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	LBSCR/LSWR; Southern Railway; British Railways; Network Rail
Locale	Greater London Surrey West Sussex
Termini	Peckham Rye Horsham
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	South Western Railway Southern Thameslink
History
Commenced	1847
Completed	1868
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC third rail
Route map Legend South London Line to South Bermondsey Peckham Rye Peckham Rye Junction South London Line to Battersea Park East Dulwich North Dulwich Dulwich College viaduct Chatham Main Line Knights Hill Tunnel Tulse Hill Junction Tulse Hill West Norwood spur Leigham spur Crystal Palace line to Balham, to Beckenham Junction Leigham Tunnel Streatham Tunnel Streatham Streatham Junction Brighton Main Line Streatham South Junction Sutton Loop Line to Wimbledon Mitcham Eastfields (opened 2008) Wimbledon–West Croydon line to Wimbledon (closed 1997) Mitcham Junction Wimbledon–West Croydon line to West Croydon (closed 1997) Hackbridge Carshalton Wallington Line to West Croydon Sutton Loop Line to Wimbledon Sutton Epsom Downs Branch Cheam Ewell East Epsom Town (LBSCR) (closed 1929) Epsom Line to Raynes Park Epsom Ashtead Leatherhead (LSWR) (closed 1927) Leatherhead Bookham Branch to Effingham Junction Mickleham tunnel Box Hill & Westhumble North Downs Line to Shalford Junction Dorking Dorking Deepdene North Downs Line to Redhill Dorking Junction Betchworth tunnel Holmwood Ockley Warnham Mid-Sussex Line to Three Bridges Horsham Mid-Sussex Line to Arundel Junction

The Portsmouth line is a secondary main line originally built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and South Western Railway between 1847 and 1868. It leaves the South London Line (Atlantic Lines) at Peckham Rye, with connections to the Victoria branch of the Brighton Main Line at Streatham, and continues via Sutton, Epsom and Dorking to join the Mid-Sussex Line^{[note 1]} at Horsham.

As of 2022, the line is predominantly a commuter line and there are no scheduled services running along the entire route. The current service pattern can be divided into three sections. The first of these runs from Peckham Rye to Streatham (Southern), with trains then switching on to the Brighton Main Line towards Selhurst and Caterham; the second is the Streatham to Sutton section (Thameslink), part of the Sutton Loop Line, and the third runs from Sutton to Horsham (Southern), with trains originating from London Victoria and joining the Portsmouth line south of Streatham.
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