South West Main Line

South West Main Line
A South Western Railway Class 701 approaching Clapham Junction
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Greater London South East England South West England
Termini	London Waterloo Weymouth
Service
Type	Main line
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	South Western Railway CrossCountry
Depot(s)	Clapham Junction Wimbledon Northam Bournemouth
Rolling stock	Class 158 "Express Sprinter" Class 159 "South Western Turbo" Class 220 "Voyager" Class 221 "Super Voyager" Class 444 "Desiro" Class 450 "Desiro" Class 455
History
Opened	1838-1840
Technical
Line length	142 miles 64 chains (229.8 km)
Number of tracks	4 (Waterloo–Basingstoke) 2 (Basingstoke–Moreton) 1 (Moreton–Dorchester South) 2 (Dorchester South–Weymouth)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, 750 V DC
Operating speed	100 mph (160 km/h)
Route map Show static map Show zoomable map Legend miles Waterloo East South Eastern Main Line to Charing Cross & Dover Priory 0 London Waterloo Waterloo International (1994-2007) London Necropolis ( 1854–1902 1902–1941 ) 1¼ Vauxhall Nine Elms railway station (1838–1848) & locomotive works (1839–1860s) Linford curve Chatham Main Line to London Victoria, Dover Priory & Ramsgate Atlantic line Queenstown Road Brighton Main Line to London Victoria West London line to Willesden Junction Various junctions 4 Clapham Junction Brighton Main Line to Brighton Waterloo–Reading line to Reading Clapham Common (1838–1863) 5½ Earlsfield River Wandle Wimbledon TMD & Staff Platforms District line Sutton Loop Line to Streatham 7¼ Wimbledon Tramlink to East Croydon Sutton Loop Line to Sutton 8¾ Raynes Park Sutton and Mole Valley lines & Chessington branch line 9¾ New Malden Kingston loop line to Twickenham 11 Berrylands Kingston (1838–1845) 12 Surbiton Hampton Court branch line to Hampton Court New Guildford line to Guildford 14½ Esher River Mole 16 Hersham 17 Walton-on-Thames 19¼ Weybridge Chertsey branch line to Virginia Water River Wey Byfleet Junction 20½ Byfleet & New Haw M25 Wey Navigation Basingstoke Canal 21¾ West Byfleet 24¼ Woking Portsmouth Direct line to Guildford 28 Brookwood Brookwood Cemetery South North (1854–1941) London Necropolis Railway Bisley Camp WWI to Deepcut WWII to Pirbright (1890–1952) Pirbright Junction Alton line to Alton Ascot–Ash Vale line to Ascot & Ash Vale North Downs Line to Reading & Guildford 33¼ Farnborough (Main) Bramshot Halt (1913–1946) 36½ Fleet 39¾ Winchfield M3 42¼ Hook River Loddon Reading–Basingstoke line 47¾ Basingstoke Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway Park Prewett (1913–1954) Worting Junction Battledown Flyover West of England line to Salisbury Litchfield Tunnel ( 198 yd 181 m ) Popham No 1 Tunnel ( 265 yd 242 m ) Popham No 2 Tunnel ( 199 yd 182 m ) 58 Micheldever Micheldever Oil Terminal Wallers' Ash Tunnel Mid-Hants Railway to Alresford Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway to Newbury Winchester Junction 66½ Winchester M3 69¾ Shawford Eastleigh–Romsey line 73½ Eastleigh Eastleigh–Fareham line Eastleigh Works 74¾ Southampton Airport Parkway M27 75¾ Swaythling Portswood (1861–1866) West Coastway line to Fareham 77¼ St Denys 77¾ † 78 Northam Short Mile Northam (1839–1840) Northam Traincare Depot Northam (1872–1966) Northam Junction Southampton Tunnel Southampton Terminus (1840–1966) to Southampton Eastern Docks Southampton West End (1847–1895) 79¼ Southampton Central 80¼ Millbrook Southampton Western Docks Southampton Container Terminals 82 Redbridge Wessex Main Line to Salisbury River Test 82½ Totton Fawley branch line to Fawley Refinery 85½ Ashurst New Forest 88 Beaulieu Road 92¾ Brockenhurst Lymington branch line to Lymington Pier Southampton and Dorchester Railway to Ringwood 95½ Sway 98¼ New Milton 101 Hinton Admiral Ringwood, Christchurch & Bournemouth Railway to Ringwood River Avon 104¼ Christchurch River Stour 106¼ Pokesdown Boscombe (1897–1965) Bournemouth East (1870–1885) 108 Bournemouth Meyrick Park Halt (1906–1917) Bournemouth West (1874–1965) Bournemouth Traincare Depot 110¾ Branksome 112 Parkstone Parkstone Pottery Tramway South Western Pottery (c. 1856–1967) Salterns Pier (1867–1922) 113¾ Poole Poole Quay Line Somerset and Dorset Railway to Broadstone Holes Bay Causeway Southampton and Dorchester Railway to Broadstone 116 Hamworthy Hamworthy Freight Branch to Poole Docks Royal Navy Cordite Factory 118¾ Holton Heath Sandford Pottery 121 Wareham Swanage Railway Bovington Camp 125¾ Wool UKAEA Winfrith 130¼ Moreton Woodsford Halt (1919–1926) 136 Dorchester South unbuilt line to Exeter Heart of Wessex Line Dorchester West Dorchester Junction Monkton and Came Halt (1905–1957) Bincombe Tunnel Upwey Wishing Well Halt (1905–1957) Abbotsbury Railway (166½) Upwey Radipole Halt (1905–1984) (168¾) Weymouth Portland Branch Line Weymouth Harbour Tramway Weymouth Quay (1889–1987) Miles measured from London Waterloo except Upwey and Weymouth which are from London Paddington † Northam Short Mile - mileage jump from 77 miles 68 chains to 78 miles Show line diagram

The South West Main Line^[1] (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south western suburbs of London and the conurbations based on Southampton and Bournemouth. It runs through the counties of Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset. It forms the core of the network built by the London and South Western Railway, today mostly operated by South Western Railway.

Operating speeds on much of the line are relatively high, with large stretches cleared for up to 100 mph (160 km/h) running. The line has four tracks for most of the length between Waterloo and Worting Junction, south west of Basingstoke, from which point most of the line is double track. A couple of miles from the Waterloo terminus, the line runs briefly alongside the Brighton Main Line west branch out of London Victoria, including through Clapham Junction – the busiest station in Europe by railway traffic.^{[citation needed]}

The oldest part of the line, in the London Borough of Lambeth, was used from 1994 to 2007 by Eurostar trains running out of Waterloo International.