MAIN LINE to the WEST Part 1 – BASINGSTOKE TO SALISBURY

Description

First proposals for a central main railway line from London to the port of Falmouth through Salisbury and Exeter came in the 1830s, and the first section as far as Basingstoke was opened in 1840 as part of the London & Southampton Railway, which in line with its plans for expansion soon became the London & South Western Railway. The Bishopstoke to Salisbury Milford branch opened in 1847 but the route from London to Salisbury was indirect, so a direct Basingstoke to Salisbury line was promoted and after delays following the Railway Mania the single track branch from Basingstoke to Andover was opened in 1854, extended to Salisbury Milford in 1857, and then to Salisbury Fisherton in 1859. The Basingstoke & Salisbury Railway is the subject of Part One.