The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Midlands and North of England to the port, but they ran out of funds to complete the line to Southampton. The intended heavy through traffic never materialised, and the line was dependent on larger railways—the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway—for support, which was not freely given. The line opened in two stages, in 1882 and 1885.
The Company was absorbed by the Great Western Railway in 1923 following the Railways Act 1921. It became strategically important during World War II when huge volumes of munitions and troops were transported to South Coast ports, particularly in the preparations for the Normandy landings, and the Didcot to Newbury section was doubled, while the southern section was upgraded with extended passing loops.
The line never carried heavy passenger volumes and declining traffic led to its closure in stages from 1960 to 1964.
History
The DN&SR was authorised in 1873 and became part of a series of 'railway wars' in the south of England between the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR).
First proposals
The idea for a railway running north to south through Hampshire stemmed from a proposal for the Manchester & Southampton Railway during the Railway Mania of the 1840s. It failed to gain parliamentary approval, largely because of opposition from the Great Western Railway.
The idea of a direct line linking the manufacturing districts and the South Coast soon inspired another scheme, the Oxford, Southampton, Gosport & Portsmouth Railway, which was generally known as "Bethell's Line" after John Bethell, a solicitor, who was the principal spokesman for the promoters. It failed to gain parliamentary approval in May 1846. It was intended as a connecting line, but the promoters offered no explanation of how the break of gauge would be dealt with.
The earlier plans never progressed, but the idea of a railway linking the industrial areas of the Midlands was revived in the 1870s, when the growth of the railway network meant that main lines from the north reached Southampton via Oxford, Reading and Basingstoke. This was an indirect and complex route, and in 1873 a Parliamentary Bill was submitted for the construction of the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Junction Railway. The Company was incorporated by Act of 5 August 1873, to build a line from on the GWR Main Line to a point north of on the LSWR Main Line, whence access to Southampton was to be over the LSWR line. There was to be a branch from Compton to East Ilsley and a loop at Whitchurch to join the Basingstoke and Salisbury line of the LSWR. This line was to cross the GWR Berks and Hants Extension line at Newbury without making a junction there, as that line was still broad gauge at that time.
By 1878 the Company was on the verge of abandonment—a Bill was submitted to Parliament for the purpose—and "with no vestige of any financial support", but due to the exertions of Lord Carnarvon, a revised route was planned, connecting with the GWR at Newbury and running through the GWR station there; and forming the Micheldever junction nearer to that station together with a second spur at Whitchurch. These changes were authorised by Act of Parliament of 9 July 1880, but Carnarvon's energy had already led to the first sod being cut on the Didcot to Newbury section on 26 August 1879.
Partial opening, and further authorisations
The Didcot to Newbury section proceeded rapidly, and was opened to traffic on 12 April 1882. It had junctions with the GWR at both places and used the GWR stations, and the GWR worked the line. Now with energetic plans, the Company sought authority for its own line to Southampton, in length, to a location near to the Royal Pier there from Burghclere.