Mid Hants Railway (Fictional Future)
The Mid Hants Railway (more commonly known as the Watercress Line), was a 17 mile line in Hampshire, UK, opened on 2nd October 1865 between Alton and Winchester. Initial stations were constructed at Ropley, Alresford and Itchen Abbas, with an additional station at Medstead & Four Marks opening in 1868. The line was single track, with passing loops at each station, however the infrastructure (bridges, tunnels etc) was generally built to allow for the route to be doubled in the future.
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| Description | The Mid Hants Railway as it could be in the future, reopened between Alton and Winchester. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time period | Future | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Train Operating Company | South Western Railway, CrossCountry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Author | Oxalin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Repository | Mid Hants Railway (Fictional Future) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Mid Hants Railway (Fictional Future) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Following electrification from London as far as Alton, the line was downgraded to an hourly diesel shuttle between Alton and Southampton. However, it was heavily used for diversions while the South West Main Line was closed between Woking and Winchester for its own electrification. Additionally, the line was used extensively by goods trains, particularly for the locally grown Watercress (from which it gained its name). However, the freight traffic ceased in 1964, and as the passenger service was becoming increasingly financially unviable, the route south from Alton to Winchester eventually closed in 1973.
Following closure, the stretch between Alton and Alresford was gradually reopened in stages between 1977 and 1985, operating today as the Watercress Line Heritage Railway.
This is a representation of the Mid Hants Railway as it could be in the future, with the entire line reopened to mainline traffic between Alton and Winchester. The simulation includes the line from Farnham through to Winchester.
Timetable
The timetable has been designed loosely to fit in with South Western Railway's (SWR) May 2023 timetable. This has a service from Winchester to Bournemouth, which is an ideal candidate to be extended up towards Alton. At Alton itself, two services from London terminate, and a further two services terminate at Farnham having originated from Guildford. With some minor alterations to the calling pattern at Bentley, these two services can be extended from Farnham to Alton, providing 4tph. Theoretically, these could all continue along the Mid Hants Railway, however there are capacity constraints on the South West Main Line, especially with regards to where to turn the trains around. Consideration has also been given to how any new services would interface with Great Western Railway services at Guildford and Fareham, and Southern services at Fareham, although these are not included in the simulation.
The need to fit around existing services was rather restrictive, so the following service pattern has been decided on:
| Mid Hants Railway (Fictional Future) Services | |||
| Train Operating Company | Origin | Destination | Frequency (tph) |
| South Western Railway | London Waterloo | Weymouth | 2 |
| Portsmouth Harbour via Fareham | 1 | ||
| Fareham via Alton | 1 | ||
| Alton | 1 | ||
| Guildford | Alresford | 1 | |
| Bournemouth | 1 | ||
| CrossCountry | Manchester Piccadilly | 1 | |
The London Waterloo to Fareham via Alton service provides an hourly stopping service along the new route, with the Guildford to Alresford and Guildford to Bournemouth both running "express" - calling only at Alresford. Fareham has been chosen as a southern terminus for one of the extended services as it currently has a spare platform that is only used during disruption or engineering works that could be used to turn the train back, and provides a second service each hour to Botley and Hedge End (although not included in this simulation).
The simulation runs from 10:00 until 13:00, with no additional peak services.
Operational Tips
- The train terminating at Alton alternates between using platform 1 (the bay platform), and platforms 2/3. Check the "next service" instruction - if the train continues into Alton South Loops, it should use platform 2 or 3.
- Generally, northbound trains at Alton should use platform 2, while southbound trains use platform 3.
- Be careful not to set the route for trains too far ahead - keep an eye on the passing times at each station so you know where the trains are going to pass.
- Try to ensure the level crossings at Farnham and Alresford are lowered early enough to not disrupt the service, but not too early to incur a penalty on the score.
Route Notes
Some creative liberties have had to be taken with the creation of this simulation, being as it is set in the future.
- A new station at Kings Worthy has been proposed. Kings Worthy village did previously have a station on another disused line, however the village has migrated northwards, and now straddles the alignment of the Mid Hants Railway.
- "Bridge Road" level crossing just south of Alresford has been included - in reality if the route were to ever reopen it is likely that grade separation would be carried out here to avoid the need for a level crossing.
- Platform 3 at Alton (currently the heritage line platform) has been connected to the line heading north towards Farnham and London - this allows passing moves to take place at Alton, as currently only platform 2 is connected to both the main network and the heritage line.
- The line speed has been raised to 60mph - currently as a heritage railway trains are only permitted to operate at 25mph, but it has been assumed that this would be changed were the line to reopen fully.
- It has been assumed that the line would be electrified with the 750V DC third rail system used by the Alton Main Line and South West Main Line, to allow for through running of services.
Additional Documentation
Due to the custom nature of the timetable, an excel spreadsheet was used to graph the services to fit around each other. As the line includes several single track sections, this has been included in the download to help with determining where trains should pass each other. It also shows slightly further each side, with trains at Aldershot, Eastleigh and Fareham all considered to ensure the proposed service fits.