Section of vintage track representing the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, on the Viables Roundabout in Basingstoke.
Overview
Status
Closed
Owner
London and South Western Railway Southern Railway
Locale
Basingstoke Hampshire
Termini
Basingstoke
Alton
Service
Type
Light rail
Operator(s)
London and South Western Railway Southern Railway
History
Opened
1901
Closed
January 1917, reopened August 1924, final closure 12 September 1932 (passengers) 1936 (freight)
Technical
Track gauge
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map
Legend
South West Main Line
to Waterloo
Basingstoke
South West Main Line
to Weymouth
Thornycroft sidings
Viables level crossing
Cliddesden
Bushywarren Lane crossing
Bagmore Lane crossing
Herriard
Salter Hatch crossing (Spain Lane)
Bentworth and Lasham
level crossing
Treloar's Hospital Platform (private)
Treloar's Hospital siding
Alton line
to Brookwood
Alton
Butts Junction
Watercress Line
to Alresford
Meon Valley Railway
to Fareham
The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway was opened in 1901, by the London and South Western Railway. It was the first English railway authorised under Light Railway legislation. It ran through unpromising, lightly populated terrain, and was probably built only to exclude competitors from building a line in the area. It had steep gradients and a line speed limit of 20 mph, later raised to 25 mph.
It never attracted much business and the hoped-for through traffic never materialised. When the War Office demanded recovered track for laying in France, during the First World War, the LSWR closed the line and lifted the track, in 1917.
After the war, local pressure mounted to reinstate the railway; this was resisted by the Southern Railway, which had taken over from the LSWR. The SR had no wish to spend considerable sums to reopen a railway that had lost money and had no positive prospects. A House of Lords Committee effectively forced the SR to resume operation, which it did in 1924. Losses mounted and business declined further, and the line was closed to passengers in 1932, with limited goods services continuing until 1936.
Before closure a film company staged a train crash with the co-operation of the LSWR, and the event appeared in a feature film.
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